Tiger Woods’ first hole-in-one golf ball to be put up for auction

The golf legend hit a hole-in-one at his pro debut in Milwaukee circa 1996. That very ball, signed by Woods himself, is now on the auction block.

By Richard Ng / 15 Nov 2022

1996 Tiger Woods Hole-in-One Golf Ball from First Professional Tournament Greater Milwaukee Open_Heritage_Auctions_1 (1)

Auction, Collectibles, Golf, Tiger Woods

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Tiger Woods is widely regarded as one of the greatest golfers and athletes of all time. But before the accolades and record-breaking runs came an explosive opening for the golf prodigy into the professional scene.

At his inaugural debut in 1996 at the Greater Milwaukee Open, Woods made a hole-in-one in the final round at the 14th hole, earning him thunderous applause and an eventual ranking at 60th place. It was a modest start for a sportsman whose incredible career now includes titles in 15 Majors and a whopping 82 PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association) Tour victories (tying him with Sam Snead as forerunners in the tour’s history).

As for the Titleist that soared into the par-3 hole, the budding superstar tossed it into the crowd — where it ended up in the lap of a very, very lucky fan, Bob Gustin, after bouncing off the hand of his not-so-lucky brother-in-law, David Beck.

Said superfan wasn’t content with snagging a historic keepsake as is. Through a connect with tournament director Tom Strong, Gustin managed to get the ball signed by the budding superstar.

Which brings us to today, where Gustin plans to put the Titleist up for auction after 26 years of keeping the ball “prominently displayed, in a nice glass case with all of the information – the tournament, the date — on a nice gold plaque”.

Details on the auction

Heritage Auctions, HA.com

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It will be sold at US-based Heritage Auctions’ Fall Sports Catalogue Auction on November 17 to 19, where it can naturally be expected to fetch quite the king’s ransom. After all, it’s so much more than, say, a ball that’s been used by a sporting legend.

“"It's difficult to equate the significance of this ball to something in another sport," says Chris Nerat, Sports Consignment Director at Heritage Auctions. "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.”

“He had been on TV so much as a kid, and had won so much as an amateur, that everyone who knew anything about golf knew exactly who he was. This wasn't like a first-round pick who should become a great player. He was tagged as a can't-miss superstar. Maybe you could compare this to LeBron James, who came out of school with can't-miss expectations, scoring 50 points in his debut or something like that,” he continues.

“But there aren't many parallels that can be drawn.”

The guide value on Heritage Auctions’ listing is set at US$50,000 (S$70,165), but we suspect that that number is a modest valuation, when you factor in that other Woods’ memorabilia like his Title 681-T irons (used to win each of his four major championships in 2000 and 2001) sold for an astronomical $7.2 million earlier this year.

Gustin won’t be keeping all the money for himself though: he plans to split the proceeds with his brother-in-law Beck, who helped him get the ball in the first place. “He's the one who shouted, ‘Throw it over here!' He's the one who it deflected off of before it came to me. We both had a part in me ending up with this ball, so we'll both enjoy it after it goes to someone else.”

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Auction, Collectibles, Golf, Tiger Woods