2024 January Golf Memorabilia Auction - Closing Date - 2/4/2024
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/5/2024
Babe Zaharias' Final Tournament Winning Wilson Staff Irons, Woods & 'BZD' Putter - 1955 Tampa Open & Peach Blossom
The 'Greatest Comeback' is a highly contested topic in the sports world, with a handful from golf at the top. There is of course Ben Hogan in 1950 and Tiger Woods in 2018/2019, but Babe Zaharias' comeback in 1954 after her diagnosis with Colon Cancer routinely receives our vote.
Babe Zaharias' personal used clubs for her final two victories in 1955 at the (local) Tampa Open & Peach Blossom come directly from her estate by way of Hal Shaw, Founder and President of The Babe Zaharias Foundation that carries on her and George's legacy while simultaneously benefiting the Tampa area youth. These were her final two events in professional golf, before you are the tools she used to do this - including her 'BZD' engraved gooseneck mallet putter. Babe’s outstanding victory in the 1954 USGA’s Women’s Golf Championship at Peabody
Massachusetts, she was still having to undergo weekly examinations and evaluations to manage her
pain medication. Her tour schedule was reduced but she was determined to play in her hometown
Tampa for the 1955 Women’s Open at Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club. Palma Ceia was also the site of
the first LPGA tournament in 1950. Babe challenged herself to be at her best for the 1955 Tampa
Women’s Open because she did not want to disappoint all her friends and family for the special event.
Due to her physical decline, she carefully selected this set of clubs to fit her, the course, and the weather
for the tournament. It was a terrific turnout for her loyal Tampa fans and many new fans as well as many
foreigners that had never seen the greatest of all time do her thing. In this tournament it was apparent
Babe’s tremendous drives from the 1951 win were woefully shorter, some by as many as fifty yards, but
nevertheless she came out a winner and everyone celebrated. Babe went on to win the Peach Blossom
Open in South Carolina at Spartanburg Country Club by a single stroke over Marilynn Smith (72-70-75-76) using this same set of clubs that she used in the Tampa Women’s Open.
“I still wasn’t ready to admit that I wasn’t in condition to play. I was more determined than ever to win one," she wrote in her autobiography about that time. “That tournament was an ordeal for me toward the end. My back was really hurting. I came home to Tampa and practically collapsed. I was in bed for several days. I figured some rest was all I needed. Each week I kept expecting to get back on the circuit. But I was having pains in my right leg and numbness in my right foot,” she wrote. “My condition got worse instead of better. Finally, I went down to Galveston in late May to the John Sealy Hospital to see Doctor Robert Moore, the man who did my 1953 cancer operation. He called in some of the other specialists there for consultation, and my back trouble was diagnosed as a slipped disc.” Zaharias passed away on September 27, 1956 after winning 82 golf tournaments and remains widely considered as one of the greatest athletes in American history.
This museum grade set
has its own history, not only did they perform in two victories, they have Babe’s DNA on all the clubs.
This set consists of Wilson Top Notch Model Driver, 2-4 Woods, Wilson irons 2-PW all with rocket “R”
shafts, sand wedge stamped BZD, Wilson country club leather and fabric golf bag with personalized
headcovers. 34" - 42." A signed letter of provenance from The Babe Zaharias Foundation comes with this lot.
The Golf Auction is proud to present our first auction of the year, the 2024 January Golf Memorabilia Auction. Please utilize the categories column to help you navigate towards your preferred collectibles. Bids must be placed before 10pm ET, Sunday, February 4th in order to participate in extended bidding.
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