Over the course of Tiger Woods’ two-and-a-half-decade-long career so far, the legendary golfer has hit no less than 20 holes-in-one while on the professional tour. One of those hole-in-one shots happened during Tiger Woods’ first-ever pro event back in 1996 and now that very same Titleist ball has hit the auction block, with a low estimate of US$50,000 (AU$78,000).
Tiger Woods made his pro debut at the 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open, where it was on the Par-3 14th hole that he swung his trusty 6-iron and recorded his first professional competition hole-in-one, much to the surprise of the attending spectators. One gentleman who had made the trip to Brown Deer Park Golf Course to watch the event was Bob Gustin, an avid golfing fan who was accompanied by his brother-in-law David Beck.
According to Golf, after Tiger retrieved the ball from the hole he turned to face the cheering crowd behind the green, where Gustin and Beck begged the debutant to toss the ball to them as a memento of the day. Woods was more than happy to give his lucky ball away, throwing the ball towards the two men, with the ball bouncing off the back of Beck’s hand and falling in the lap of Gustin. Looking to cement the ball as a historic sporting artefact, Gustin also managed to get Tiger to sign the ball after his round was complete, capping off an eventful day of spectating.
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More than a quarter of a century later, the Titleist ball Woods hit down that Wisconsin fairway remains in Gustin’s possession as one of his most treasured pieces of golfing memorabilia. However, despite the personal significance of the ball to Gustin, he’s looking to find the ball a new caretaker and is offering the ball up for sale via Heritage Auctions.
“It’s difficult to equate the significance of this ball to something in another sport,” explained Chris Nerat, Heritage Auctions’ sports consignment director.
“This is more than just someone hitting a home run or scoring a touchdown in his first game, because those things, while exceedingly difficult and impressive, happen far more frequently than a hole-in-one.”
The “Titleist 1” golf ball signed by Tiger Woods is currently open for bidding, with the online auction set to close on November 18th at 10 PM CT (which is 3 PM on Saturday the 19th Sydney time). At the time of writing, the highest bid is US$28,000 (AU$43,618).
