[PHOTO: Courtesy of Goldin Auctions]
As we’ve seen through the years, the Tiger Woods collectibles market always seems to be up no matter what shape the economy is in. We’ve seen everything from Tiger’s equipment to signage from his first tournament sell for big bucks. But one one-of-a-kind item that just sold at auction is unlike anything we’ve seen before.
That’s because it’s a signed, handwritten letter from an 18-year-old Tiger to another fan. And it revolves around racism in golf.
Thanks to our friends at Bunkered for uncovering this unique sale by Goldin Auctions. Apparently, someone named Chad Jones tracked down Tiger’s address and sent him a note asking about the topic.
“To Chad, I appreciate you taking the time and interest to write to me,” Woods begins the letter. “I completely agree with you that racism is unfortunately part of the game of golf. I am excited that you are writing on this topic because this is something that has been a significant part of golf and is something we should start talking about.”
At the time, Woods was coming off his three consecutive US Junior Amateur wins and was about to go on his stretch of winning three consecutive US Amateur titles as well. Of course, he turned pro two years later and became arguable the greatest golfer in history with 82 PGA Tour titles, including 15 majors.
In the letter, Woods revealed he had been called racial slurs on the golf course and had even received a death threat when he made his PGA Tour debut as a 16-year-old amateur at the 1992 LA Open.
“These are not the only remarks of this kind. I have had other such remarks, but I just can’t seem to remember them clearly,” Woods wrote.
Woods also tried to explain why he thought he received verbal abuse while practising and playing as a kid at the Navy Golf Course with his dad, a former Green Beret.
“You have to understand that the Navy GC is mainly made up of retired Navy officers who are about fifty to eighty years old,” Woods writes. “Back when they were in the military the blacks were either cooks, porters, or low-ranking officers. Then comes along my father who is a retired lieutenant colonel from the Green Berets (a special forces group in the Army) who has the audacity to have a kid who can beat most of the membership and who just happens to be black. This brings on jealousy and from that, you can understand how this kind of statement can be made.”
Jones held onto the letter and kept it in the envelope for three decades.
But he finally decided to sell the keepsake and it recently fetched $US25,620 through Goldin Auctions. And that’s where this story gets really cool: Jones donated the proceeds… to the Tiger Woods Foundation.
“I just thought how cool it would be to send a kid to college using Tiger’s letter to me,” Jones told cllct.com.
