Kennedy’s personally-owned golf ball, embossed in red and black in two places, “J. F. K.,” circa 1962, picked up from the South Lawn of the White House, where Kennedy practiced from time to time, and retrieved by White House General Foreman Melvon O. Carter. Accompanied by an October 13, 1982 letter of provenance from Carter’s widow, written on White House stationery, which reads, in part: “My husband, Melvon O. Carter…had worked for The White House from the time of President Herbert Hoover until President Richard Nixon…he would often pick up the personal golf balls of President Eisenhower, and later, President Kennedy, from the South Lawn of the White House. This President John F. Kennedy golf ball is marked JFK in black and 2 in red in two places. It reads, Steel Center and has one pen mark under the letter L to distinguish it. This was not a presentation golf ball. M. O. Carter picked up the golf ball after President Kennedy hit it while practicing his game.” In fine condition. Provenance: The Raleigh DeGeer Amyx Collection. RR Auction COA.
