Masters memorabilia is not an antique business in Augusta, Ga.

The Masters is previous hat.

Previous hat, yellowed scorecard, weathered press badge, classic program … CJ Studying is on the lookout for any of these. In the event that they occur to be autographed by a well-known golfer, all the higher.

It’s a bustling enterprise for Studying, promoting Augusta Nationwide memorabilia out of Developments & Traditions Vintage Mall simply down Washington Boulevard from the world’s most unique golf course. The onetime chain restaurant chef, as with others within the space, now turns all issues Masters into inexperienced.

“Individuals are simply dying to go,” mentioned Studying, who bought the nickname “Loopy Johnny” in highschool, therefore CJ. “It’s like if you happen to rating a Rolling Stones ticket and also you’re a music fan.”

You possibly can’t at all times get what you need. Solely a small proportion of people that enter the annual Masters ticket lottery really win, so folks equivalent to Studying are there to melt the blow.

Desire a Masters shoe horn? That can price $40. How about an $8 matchbook bearing the membership emblem? A paper cocktail serviette for $5? One man’s tchotchkes are one other man’s cha-ching.

Contemplate, as an illustration, the Pasta Sauce Palmer.

Studying was as soon as a cook dinner at Carrabba’s Italian Grill throughout the road when Arnold Palmer got here in for lunch. The four-time Masters winner gave every of the three cooks a $100 tip then fortunately signed an Augusta scorecard at Studying’s request.

Studying tucked the cardboard into the shirt pocket of his chef’s coat. Solely later did he uncover his autographed memento seemed like proof from a criminal offense scene.

“That’s Carrabba’s pasta sauce,” he mentioned, pulling the crimson-spattered card, priced at $150, from a plastic sleeve. “However the autograph remains to be good and it’s a very good collectable piece.”

For prime rollers there’s the uncommon and shaky signature of Bobby Jones, who helped design Augusta Nationwide and co-founded the Masters. That’s on a slip of paper and in a show that additionally features a black-and-white {photograph} of the legendary golfer.

Studying discovered that autograph in a free field of letters, playing cards, payments and different paper scraps at an property sale. He had the Jones signature examined and authorized.

“That is referred to as the post-stroke autograph,” he mentioned. “Earlier than he had a stroke, he’d signal alternative ways. However when he needed to study to write down once more, he signed this fashion. I’m asking $3,500 for it. That’s a reasonably truthful worth.”

He has a inexperienced jacket on show, however it’s not an actual one which belonged to an Augusta Nationwide member or a Masters winner. It’s simply an eye catching show, a inexperienced sport coat with a membership patch on the breast.

He has a number of memento flags and backyard gnomes — these are vastly common — together with badges and buttons from a variety of years. Something from 1997, when Tiger Woods collected his first of 5 Masters victories, comes at a premium.

Jack McKinnon, a retired firefighter from Boston, discovered the perfect reward for his Masters-loving teenage son: a $25 ball that includes the distinctive membership emblem — a rendering of the USA with a gap and golf pin the place Augusta ought to be.

“It’s a bit of historical past,” he mentioned. “The Masters is revered. When you held up a inexperienced jacket to the common sports activities fan, they’d in all probability know what it’s. When you held up the U.S. Open trophy, they in all probability wouldn’t know.”

Many of the objects Studying finds come from property gross sales within the space.

“If there’s one thing I really want or I can promote or acquire it, I’ll get there at 2 a.m. and sit on the entrance porch,” he mentioned. “Folks will come by and see my van and say, ‘Aw, man, he’s right here,’ and drive off.

“It’s first come, first served. Someone can stroll within the door and say, ‘Hey, I’m shopping for all the things.’ Then they’ll shut it down. I’ve purchased complete rooms earlier than. There have been 35-year caddies who’ve handed away, and I’ve been to their property gross sales and racked up a variety of stuff. They’ve bought stuff I didn’t even know existed — pure gold putters that have been trophies, crystal glasses we’ve by no means seen earlier than, information … .”

He discovered a uncommon espresso desk e book that manner, one signed by membership co-founder Clifford Roberts.

An version in contrast to every other.