Friday, May 29, 2009

A ball fetish, perhaps?


I'm astonished to read about the collection of the late Mr. Barry Grosse of Saskatoon, Canada.

The Canadian family of a dead Saskatoon man who was passionate about golf say they've found more than 40,000 golf balls he hoarded at his home over decades.

Barry Grosse, 64, was struck by a car and killed last September while riding his bicycle, and nephew Phil Grosse is cleaning out his uncle's home, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix said Friday.

Grosse said his uncle, who was a retired school principal, became passionate about golf in early childhood and spent countless hours playing and collecting golf balls from various courses.

"I don't know how many of them he tripped over in the bush, I don't know how many he actually dug for in the bush, I don't know how many balls he fished out of a pond," the younger Grosse said. "All I know is he's got about 40,000 golf balls."

The nephew works as marketing and communications coordinator for the Saskatchewan Golf Association, and about 32,000 of the balls are being donated for use in its youth program, the report said.

The other 8,000 will remain in the family for sentimental reasons, Grosse said.


I'm even more astonished to read that last line! Why keep 8,000? Why not 8, or 80, or 800? With 8,000 of them, he'll be mourning his uncle for a long time. Every time he loses one, it'll be like a death in the family, all over again!



Peter

1 comment:

Carteach said...

If the man was truly a collector, and cataloged them... it would be easier to understand.

When my father passed away I was left part of his music collection. Quite literally a truck load of record albums, most of which he had transcribed to tape and cataloged.