Upper Deck will release another golf card product with 2021 SP Authentic Golf. In addition to autograph and memorabilia cards, Upper Deck will also be featuring their first bounty program in a golf card set. Among the big names signing for SP Authentic are Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam.
It will be the third golf product of the year for Upper Deck. In May of 2021, they released Upper Deck Artifacts Golf, while SP Game Used Golf came out in June. The release date for 2022 SP Authentic Golf is May 18, 2022.
“Collectors were eagerly anticipating which golf brand would be reintroduced for the third product,” stated Upper Deck’s Sports Brand Manager, Paul Zickler. “We are thrilled that collectors have an opportunity to get hard-signed signatures in SP Authentic, concluding the 2021 golf lineup and the successful launch of three new PGA Tour licensed trading card products.”
Each box will have 18 packs with four cards per pack. Look for two autographed cards in each box. Pricing should be available closer to release date.
SP Authentic Golf will feature a 115-card base set that includes parallels with event-worn memorabilia. The final Legendary PGA Tour Course Relic set will showcase course-used sand from the famed TPC Sawgrass, an overlay program that can be found across all three golf products released this year.
The set also includes on-card signatures with insert sets like Sign of the Times 2, Marks of Distinction, and Immortal Inks. Sign of the Times 2 cards will also offer inscribed and hand-numbered parallels, and rare multi-player signed cards with two to four autographs per card.
SP Authentic Bounty Program
Upper Deck is taking their bounty program that was a highlight of their 2020-21 NHL hockey card season and using it for golf. Collectors will be able to earn exclusive achievement cards in the SP Authentic Bounty program by collecting the 49-card Spectrum FX Bounty set. The first 50 collectors to complete the challenge will receive card number 50 of the Spectrum FX set, along with the entire 50-card Spectrum FX gold parallel set.
Return to Golf
This year’s offerings from Upper Deck are their first golf card products since 2014. The company first produced golf cards in 2001, as they released 2001 Upper Deck Golf in June, 2001 and followed it up with SP Authentic two months later.
The driving forces behind those sets are the Tiger Woods rookie cards. Card #1 in the first Upper Deck is considered Woods’ official rookie card. It drove sales for the product in the hobby and made UD Golf one of the hottest new wax products on the floor at the 2001 National. It’s been a popular one since Woods captured the 2019 Masters championship with higher grade copies selling for $100 and up. The company also released the Upper Deck Tiger Woods Golf Collection that year.
In 2002, Upper Deck returned to golf with Upper Deck Golf, SP Authentic Golf and SP Game-Used Golf, along with a 32-card 2002 Upper Deck Tiger Woods The Majors set. They continued with golf through 2005, and then left the golf trading card business until 2012. Phil Mickelson’s rookie card appears in the 2002 UD Golf product.
In 2014, Upper Deck produced SP Golf, SP Authentic Golf, SP Game Used Golf, and Upper Deck Exquisite Golf. They were the last Upper Deck golf sets made until this year.
Factory-sealed boxes of Upper Deck’s 2021 SP Game Used Golf are currently selling for about $300-350 while factory-sealed boxes of 2021 Upper Deck Artifacts Golf are selling in the $550-$700 range.
You can see all of Upper Deck’s golf cards on eBay here.
Related Stories:
Upper Deck Celebrates PGA Rookie of the Year Zalatoris
Upper Deck Game Used Golf Set for June Arrival
Upper Deck Bringing Golf Cards Back; Artifacts 1st Off the Tee
Notes: NBA China Jerseys at Auction; Hot Hoops Auctions, Tiger Market, More
Ramblings: Why Golf’s New Star Needs More Cards
2014 Exquisite Golf Set for Release Next Week
Always in Demand: Gretzky, Woods, McIlroy Talk Autographs
