Herb Haas, 85, surrounded by some of the 18,492 golf pencils at his New Port Richey home. The pencils in his collection are mounted and framed.
Herb Haas of New Port Richey has more than 18,000 golf pencils from courses all over the world, alphabetized and framed. And one wife, who understands.
They're all over the walls, stacked on the tables. Do you always keep them on display?
No, in the closet. The walls would fill up pretty quick, I guess.
Okay, how many are there?
The last record keeping, as of January: 18,492.
Did you count them yourself?
Oh, yes. They're in 11 groups. Each group goes A to Z. See, I had to stop someplace and see how many I had. They fit 230 to a board without erasers, and 184 with erasers. About three or four years ago they started making them with erasers. Arnold Palmer came out and said it was the biggest mistake they ever made in golf. People can cheat and change their score.
Do you play golf?
I started at 12 years old on sand greens. I golfed for 65 years, so that makes 77 when I quit. I'm 85 now. I figured 65 years of playing golf was enough.
Were you any good?
I got two holes-in-one.
When you quit, did you miss it?
Herb's wife, Peg: He missed it.
How long have you been married?
Peg: Sixty-five years. That's to the same man. I couldn't have done better. I don't think he could've, either.
How did this collection start?
Herb: 1988 is when it all started. We had friends in Seven Springs (Golf and Country Club) when we lived there. They noticed I was picking up these pencils, not saying much. So then they filled up my mailbox with pencils.
Another time, some church members noticed some golf pencils on the backs of the pews. They used a lot of donated pencils, I guess. So they told the pastor what they wanted to do. They took the pencils and replaced them with regular pencils.
We went on vacation up through Florida and my wife was nice enough not to jump on my back every time I had to go inside a clubhouse and see what pencils they had. We went to 46 clubs in two weeks. I've picked 'em up all over, gutters and everywhere else.
What made you take home that first pencil?
I don't know. It just interested me.
Do other people do this?
Oh, yes, very much so. A lot of people send me stuff. There's the Golf Collector Society. It's international. We attend the annual meetings. We've been to Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky. We were up there Nov. 19 to St. Augustine to the World Golf Village. I had four tables. When I go there, it's a real fact I bring back over 500 pencils.
Do you have the biggest collection you know of?
That's what the word is.
How do you know which ones you don't have?
I've got these books, they're like the bible for the whole thing. There are 26,000 golf courses listed and when I get the pencil I put a "Y" next to it. They're from all over the world, all over the world. I've got 'em from Malaysia in there. And no, Tiger (Woods) didn't send it to me. And these here are Japanese. I take them to a girl in Seven Springs and she reads the characters on there for me.
What's the most famous course you've collected a pencil from?
Gee gosh. Every one of them was important to me. I don't know if I can look at it that way or not. There's Augusta, of course. My wife and I went together that year. That's the year Jack Nicklaus won. He was 46, I think.
Do you ever pay for pencils?
I can't say no exactly because sometimes I pay postage if someone sends them to me. I don't sell them though. I give some away.
Do you get excited when the mail comes?
Oh, don't I, Peg? I got the mail girls looking for them for me. We've been here since 1990. The mailman passed away, and his wife sent me pencils he'd been collecting for me.
What does this say about you?
I want something to do. It keeps you busy. I'm 85 years old. Do I look it?
Nope. Will you ever be finished?
No. Not 'til the Lord takes me away from here. Maybe that's the end.
Who will inherit the pencils?
See that blue box out the window? The trash can? The man comes Thursdays and Mondays.
Ever have trouble finding a pencil when you need one?
Peg: Oh, yes.
Herb: I pick up a couple of pens whenever I'm at the doctor's office.
-Kelley Benham can be reached at 727 893-8848 or benham@sptimes.com Herb Haas can be reached at pencilherb@aol.com He wanted you to know, in case you have pencils.
