Oosthuizen's Double Eagle Golf Ball Traded for a Round at ANGC

[Mark McKeever]

 Agreed Tim.  100%

Mark

[Jim Tang]

Good for him.  What an experience he will have and what a story!

[Wade Whitehead]

Can anyone name another time in recent memory when Augusta National wanted something they couldn't have?

WW

[Bill Brightly]

As much as I would love to play Augusta, two lifetime passes would be pretty sweet, too! I have gone back and forth on which I would take... I'm leaning towards the passes.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Bill,

I'm afraid that I wouldn't have done anything quickly and I think the fellow settled far to low.

When are you going to come to MRCC with your clubs and camera.

[Andy Troeger]

Good for him.  What an experience he will have and what a story!

I agree. I think its a pretty cool story.. The memory of the experience is cool enough, and the round at ANGC is just a dream for most of us--it worked out for all involved.

[Garland Bayley]

Bill,

I'm afraid that I wouldn't have done anything quickly and I think the fellow settled far to low.

When are you going to come to MRCC with your clubs and camera.

Now we're talking. Too bad Patrick wasn't there to represent him as his lawyer in the negotiations.

[Adrian_Stiff]

I guess it boils down to what the value of the ball is. My guess would be that it would fetch $10,000 at auction. So, whats a round of golf worth at ANGC.... $1000 per person? I think the lifteime passes would have been worth more. Ofcourse beauty is in the eye of the beholder and so the ball owner got what he wanted and probably felt honoured to get the clubhouse tour and the offer. Masters stuff makes great money Art Walls 1959 and Doug Ford's green jackets (which they were allowed to take home then) both fetched around $60,000 fairly recently at Auction. Kel Nagles 1960 ball that he holed out to win the centenary Open only made a few hundred dollars. Some theoretically more interesting stuff can go for not a lot....signed balls, signed photos, hats, gloves of golfers alive are not really worth that much but make crazy money and fund raising auctions.

[Jeff Evagues]

I was thinking of this exact scenario when I read the members were negotiating with the man. I would definately choose to play over the tickets.

[J_ Crisham]

You can always buy a badge to a round at The Masters-it may be expensive on ebay. You will never buy a round of golf at Augusta National-many wealthy people have tried unsuccessfully.

[Bill Seitz]

I guess it boils down to what the value of the ball is. My guess would be that it would fetch $10,000 at auction. So, whats a round of golf worth at ANGC.... $1000 per person? I think the lifteime passes would have been worth more. Ofcourse beauty is in the eye of the beholder and so the ball owner got what he wanted and probably felt honoured to get the clubhouse tour and the offer. Masters stuff makes great money Art Walls 1959 and Doug Ford's green jackets (which they were allowed to take home then) both fetched around $60,000 fairly recently at Auction. Kel Nagles 1960 ball that he holed out to win the centenary Open only made a few hundred dollars. Some theoretically more interesting stuff can go for not a lot....signed balls, signed photos, hats, gloves of golfers alive are not really worth that much but make crazy money and fund raising auctions.

A round of golf at ANGC, in the open market, would be worth a lot more than 1K per person! I would think they would comfortably raise 100K for a four ball in a charity auction. If not more.  

But he wasn't negotiating on the open market.  He was negotiating with people for whom the marginal cost of allowing an extra foursome at August is zero.  Pretty much the same for the badges as well.  I'm not a big fan of people selling memorabilia that they've lucked into on ebay.  I'd prefer to see historic sports artifacts go to the players/teams/halls of fame.   But I'm also not a big fan of stinginess on the part of people who want those items back from the fan (not that I'm alleging that here).  But the fact is that while the offer from Augusta was generous (and I think I would be content with lifetime nontransferable badges and a round of golf), what they offered basically costs them nothing.  Again, I would have accepted it, but they could have easily offered more.  It's not like they need to be worried about setting a precedent such that they'd have to accommodate the multitude of fans who catch double-eagle balls tossed casually into the crowd.  

[Ron Csigo]

Hope he gets a weekend at Butler cabin along with course access with at least one friend. If it were me, being a Notre Dame fan I would ask to play with Lou Holtz, who I think is a member.

Tim,

Lou Holtz is a member.  A friend of mine got to play ANGC a few years back with Lou Holtz, who road around the course in his Blue & Gold Notre Dame colored golf cart.

[Adrian_Stiff]

Brian - I dont know about $100,000 for a 4 ball, thats £18,000 each in our money. I dont know a single person that would pay that and probably the people that would pay that would have a fair chance of knowing someone that could get them on. I know quite a few normal people that have played there. I think £1000 would be my max but the question of "how much would you pay to....." is quite a standard question. I hear a lot of numbers that are just three figures. Perhaps we are mean this side of the pond. I would imagine quite a few GCA's have gotten on, what is the guest fee introduced (if there is one).

[JMEvensky]

Hope he gets a weekend at Butler cabin along with course access with at least one friend. If it were me, being a Notre Dame fan I would ask to play with Lou Holtz, who I think is a member.

Tim,

Lou Holtz is a member.  A friend of mine got to play ANGC a few years back with Lou Holtz, who road around the course in his Blue & Gold Notre Dame colored golf cart.

I bet the Arkansas people really appreciated that since it was they who got him in ANGC to begin with.

[Ross Harmon]

Brian - I dont know about $100,000 for a 4 ball, thats £18,000 each in our money. I dont know a single person that would pay that and probably the people that would pay that would have a fair chance of knowing someone that could get them on. I know quite a few normal people that have played there. I think £1000 would be my max but the question of "how much would you pay to....." is quite a standard question. I hear a lot of numbers that are just three figures. Perhaps we are mean this side of the pond. I would imagine quite a few GCA's have gotten on, what is the guest fee introduced (if there is one).

Big shots pay $500,000 to have lunch with Warren Buffet, no doubt a 4 some at Augusta would fetch $100,000.

[Matthew Essig]

I'm not sure if someone has mentioned this, but what if some lady received the ball?? (idea came from IBM thread)

[Sven Nilsen]

Hope he gets a weekend at Butler cabin along with course access with at least one friend. If it were me, being a Notre Dame fan I would ask to play with Lou Holtz, who I think is a member.

Tim,

Lou Holtz is a member.  A friend of mine got to play ANGC a few years back with Lou Holtz, who road around the course in his Blue & Gold Notre Dame colored golf cart.

I bet the Arkansas people really appreciated that since it was they who got him in ANGC to begin with.

I always thought that Holtz joined after his ND days (and well after his Arkansas days) due to his connections from USC (the SEC school).  Same reason that Spurrier became a member.  Would be interested in hearing more if you know the full story.

[Andy Troeger]

My Dad got to play a couple rounds locally with Holtz when he was at Notre Dame. I'm pretty confident he was already a member at ANGC then.

[JESII]

In truth, now that he lost, how much could that ball possibly fetch on the open market? $5? Its sole value would be with Augusta and LO.

[Sven Nilsen]

My Dad got to play a couple rounds locally with Holtz when he was at Notre Dame. I'm pretty confident he was already a member at ANGC then.

There's an article from 2002 that discusses his recent offer of membership.  He left ND in '96. 

I'm guessing his connections with the former Arkansas AD (a longtime member) and his relationship with Hootie Johnson (a former USC fullback) helped the cause.

[Andy Troeger]

Sven,
Possibly so, I found that article from 2002 and it does mention what you say. It also says he had played there numerous times over previous years, so that's perhaps where my memory came from.

[Sven Nilsen]

Andy:

Knowing what I know about Holtz, it doesn't shock me that he would have flaunted the ND colors down in Augusta, even with the USC and Arkansas connections.  I have two good friends who played for him during the heyday of the "Catholics."  The stories they tell are legendary.

I think my favorite is when a punt returner kept bobbling catches during practice.  Holtz ran out on the field and attempted to show the guy how to do things right.  First punt he tried to catch hit the tops of his fingertips, leaving him yelling for Jim Russ (who was the trainer at the time).  Imagine someone shouting out that name with Holtz's distinctive voice.

Sven

[Mark Smolens]

I'm not sure if someone has mentioned this, but what if some lady received the ball?? (idea came from IBM thread)

Matthew, I don't think that they were giving the guy a membership in the club, so why would the gender have anything to do with this? They do permit women to play golf at Augusta National, they simply don't have any members who are women.

[Tim Martin]

Andy:

Knowing what I know about Holtz, it doesn't shock me that he would have flaunted the ND colors down in Augusta, even with the USC and Arkansas connections.  I have two good friends who played for him during the heyday of the "Catholics."  The stories they tell are legendary.

I think my favorite is when a punt returner kept bobbling catches during practice.  Holtz ran out on the field and attempted to show the guy how to do things right.  First punt he tried to catch hit the tops of his fingertips, leaving him yelling for Jim Russ (who was the trainer at the time).  Imagine someone shouting out that name with Holtz's distinctive voice.

Sven

Sven-I have a friend who was the AD at Stamford Catholic High School for many years. He sent some kids to ND to play for Holtz and said the stories the kids told him were like the ones you heard and that Holtz was never characterized as warm and fuzzy. I won`t go into any detail but it was kind of shocking.

[Bill Brightly]

Andy:

Knowing what I know about Holtz, it doesn't shock me that he would have flaunted the ND colors down in Augusta, even with the USC and Arkansas connections.  I have two good friends who played for him during the heyday of the "Catholics."  The stories they tell are legendary.

I think my favorite is when a punt returner kept bobbling catches during practice.  Holtz ran out on the field and attempted to show the guy how to do things right.  First punt he tried to catch hit the tops of his fingertips, leaving him yelling for Jim Russ (who was the trainer at the time).  Imagine someone shouting out that name with Holtz's distinctive voice.

Sven

Sven-I have a friend who was the AD at Stamford Catholic High School for many years. He sent some kids to ND to play for Holtz and said the stories the kids told him were like the ones you heard and that Holtz was never characterized as warm and fuzzy. I won`t go into any detail but it was kind of shocking.

A younger friend of mine from the club played for Holtz, he was a "recruited walk-on," played 3 string/scout team, etc. Always amazed me that Holtz took regular phone calls from the guy's dad (also a member and friend.) I thought was pretty decent of the coach.

As an aside, my friend was in the middle of the big ND-Miami fight when the U players ran through ND players during warm ups. Cool Holtz story in that one, not sure if I can tell it though.