Bob Hope auction offers more than memories

If you're a golfer -- or are shopping for someone who is a golfer -- pay attention.

As The Times' Bob Pool reported today, the Bob and Dolores Hope Charitable Foundation is auctioning off a treasure trove of Bob Hope's earthly belongings, with the proceeds going to veterans' organizations.

Auctioneer Darren Julien said that the Oct. 18-19 sale will be streamed on the Internet and could raise as much as half a million dollars for the charities. Here's a link to the online catalog along with directions on how to bid. (Clock on Day 1 and scroll down toward the bottom where the sporting gear is listed and click on whatever catches your eye.)

Hope, who died five years ago at age 100, never threw anything out at his Toluca Lake office. "He was a bit of a pack rat," daughter Linda Hope told Pool. "If he were here, he'd have something to say about everything here."

What does "here" mean from a golfer's perspective?

Golf hats, for starters, including one big, floppy affair with brown, crème, pink, yellow, orange, and light brown sections on top. Hope wore it during the 1953 Bing Crosby’s National Pro-Amateur Golf Championship at Pebble Beach.

Shoes, including a delight pair of wooden clogs with golf cleats on them -- and Hope's face painted on one shoe, a cocktail glass and a "19th hole" pennant on the other.

Clubs. Dozens and dozens of clubs, many of them one-of-a-kind. There's a "caricature" club with a paper mache model of Hope's familiar face where the club head would normally be. A gold-plated practice putter (with carrying case) that breaks down into three pieces.  Handmade putters. Engraved putters. Sterling silver clubs. A putter with a white marble and brass mallet head.

And knick-knacks from seemingly every course Hope ever played.

And if you tire of golf, scroll down a bit further and you'll find autographed footballs, boxing gear, baseballs, baseball bats footballs and what-not. Then go back to the starting page and click on "Day 2."

-- Greg Johnson

Photo: From left, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra clown around on a golf course in an undated photo. Credit: File photo received by Los Angeles Times Library on Jan. 7, 1946