2023 April Golf Memorabilia Auction - Closing Date 4/10/2023
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/9/2023
Rare Roberto de Vicenzo & Bob Goalby Signed Champs Dinner Napkin with '65' Notation
The Masters would never be the same! Remarkably, perhaps the only place that Roberto De Vicenzo wrote his actual score for the final round of the 1968 Masters Tournament was on this napkin during the champs dinner to USGA Rules Committee and Augusta National member Ike Grainger just below Goalby's penmanship. This nicely folded full size linen napkin with an embroidered Augusta National Golf Club logo reads in red pen that Goalby and De Vicenzo wrote with simultaneously "To Jim Grainger - Best of Luck and Good Golfing always - Bob Goalby." Directly below without skipping a beat "Roberto De Vicenzo - 65 (underlined). There were only four men at that table in the ANGC dining room: Clifford Roberts, Grainger, Bob Goalby and Roberto de Vicenzo. Author Curt Sampson detailed the event in his publication The Lost Masters - Grace and Disgrace in '68.
"After the ceremony, Roberts approached Roberto. Would he care to join us for dinner tonight here at the club? 'Yes, Mister Roberts, I'd be happy to.' Here was a significant break in tradition: unless Arnold Palmer was involved, the runner-up did not attend the dinner for the new champion.' Clifford Roberts changed that going forward. "A fiasco. 'very awkward.' Goalby recalls. 'No one knows what to say,' agrees De Vicenzo, who made a conscious decision to drink very little to prevent saying something he would later regret. Roberts, Grainger, and the two golfers stared at the potatoes and steaks on their plates, making their the only really quiet table on a busy night in the dining room. Cliff told Roberto during dinner that he and Bob Jones 'want you to know that we would love to declare two winners this year,' Sampson finished.
The situation unfolded as follows. On the par-4 17th hole of the final round of the 1968 Masters Tournament, Roberto de Vicenzo made a birdie, but playing partner Tommy Aaron inadvertently marked a 4 instead of 3 on the scorecard. De Vicenzo did not check the scorecard for the error before signing it upon conclusion, and according to the Rules of Golf the higher score had to stand and be counted. If not for this mistake, de Vicenzo would have tied for first place with Bob Goalby, and the two would have met in an 18-hole playoff the next day. His quote afterwards became legendary for its poignancy: "What a stupid I am!". The 1968 tournament remains one of the most remembered conclusions of The Masters for the events that unfolded that Sunday in April. James Spence Authentication (JSA) has reviewed this signature and their auction letter of authenticity comes with this lot.
The Golf Auction is proud to present our 2023 April Auction. This is a large eclectic group of memorabilia representing all areas of the golf collecting world, so please utilize the categories column to help navigate you towards your preferred collectibles. Bids must be placed before 10pm ET, Sunday, April 9th in order to participate in extended bidding
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