Tiger Woods’ hole-in-one ball from his professional debut at the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1996 sold for $186,000 during Heritage Auctions’ fall sports event this past weekend.
That should make Bob Gustin a happy man.
The Nekoosa, Wisconsin, resident came up with the ball when Woods tossed it into the crowd after his big shot on the 14th hole at Brown Deer Park Golf Course.
He also got Woods to autograph the ball that day with the help of tournament director Tom Strong.
“Everyone knew that was a special piece,” Heritage sports consignment director Chris Nerat said. “How do you put a value on something like that?
“It’s such a unique piece. He only had three hole-in-ones during his PGA career, and this was the first one in his pro debut. It’s a museum-caliber 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.”
