How would you like to own a piece of history from the GOAT himself – a piece of Tiger Woods history so rare that we haven’t seen the same of its kind since 1998? Well it’s too late!
In what stands as probably the coolest, most unique piece of golf memorabilia we’ve ever heard about, a signed hole-in-one ball from Woods himself is being sold at auction – and it has quite the backstory.
The year was 1996, and Woods was competing at his first ever professional event at the Greater Milwaukee Open. Setting the standard for an utterly ridiculous career, Woods only went and aced the par-3 14th at Brown Deer Park.
Since then, the ball has been cherished by Bob Gustin who was fortunate enough to be tossed the ball after pleading with the future icon for the piece of history. As you do.
But now, with collectibles on the rise and young Tiger having made quite the name for himself – on top of somehow not having had a hole-in-one since 1998 – Gustin has cashed in by auctioning the ball off through Heritage Auctions.
So how much are we talking? The ball has set at a $50,000 minimum, although it was expected to go for much more seeing as a signed ticket from Woods’ PGA Tour debut went for $104,000!
And it didn’t disappoint, with the winning bid coming in at $186,000 – a little north of £150,000 – which will delight not only Gustin but his brother-in-law, David.
“Whatever it goes for, I’m splitting with David,” Gustin said before the auction. “He’s the one who shouted, ‘Throw it over here!'”
“Everyone knew that was a special piece,” Heritage Auctions’ Chris Nerat said. “How do you put a value on something like that?
“It’s such a unique piece. He [has] only had three hole-in-ones during his PGA career, and this was the first one in his pro debut. It’s a museum-calibre piece that is one of those once-in-a-generation.
“It’s never happened in the auction world that a golf ball has sold for that price. It was a special piece and got a special price, and we were very happy with the result.”
George Cooper
