As something of a golfer, I had for years tried to obtain a Penfold Hearts golf ball, used by 007 in the taut golf sequence from Goldfinger. I wasn't even sure they really existed. Calls to golfmongers in England informed me that the balls were either no longer made, or never made, or out of stock, or perhaps there were Penfolds, but no Hearts. I was about to resign myself to spending part of my next trip to the U.K. searching for a golf ball.

Then, around June of 1993 I was playing a round at Balboa G.C. in Encino, Calif., a nice but unremarkable public course. As our foursome walked back to the clubhouse, my partner Dennis Cruz saw a ball under a shrub in the parking lot and tossed it to me. "Here, you want this?" Penfold Hearts. I was about to exclaim my disbelief and pleasure, before realizing I may be the only person for many miles who would get excited about this worn old ball. "Sure, thanks." And into my bag it went.

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