Masters Winners Medal Awarded to Charles Coody On Day of His 1971 Victory

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Masters Winners Medal Awarded to Charles Coody On The Day of His 1971 Victory

Charles Coody would claim his place in Master's and golf history with the 1971 tournament. He raced to the Masters first round lead that year with an opening 66 pacing his round with a two under score over the famed Amen corner portion of the course (to this day Charles claims the par 3 #12 as his favorite hole at the Augusta National). Following a two under Saturday score of 70 to complete his first 54 holes, Charles was tied with already three-time Masters champ Jack Nicklaus. On Sunday Coody found himself in a back nine fight with two future Hall of Famers in a young hotshot Johnny Miller and the games best at the time Nicklaus. Coody under the enormous pressure of the back nine at Augusta with the Masters on the line rolled in a birdie at 15 and followed with a second birdie in a row at 16, draining a 15-fott putt. With finishing pars at both 17 and 18 Charles had calmly posted a two under round of 70 for the second straight day giving him a four day total of 279 and a two stroke victory over Miller and Nicklaus who tied for second. The award ceremony that followed afforded Coody the first chance to hold and cherish his champions medal. It has been a prized possession, and recognition of his accomplishment at the '71 Masters since that day. With that in mind it is challenging to quantify what an extreme opportunity is presented here. First of all just how few of these even exist today among 84 years of champions. There is a great deal of uncertainty over the kinds of awards that were given out in the early years of the Masters Tournament. It is believed by most authorities on the early Masters championships that a champions plaque and winners checks were the only awards a victor received at presentation ceremonies until 1951, at which time the winner began receiving a gold medal. At that time, prior winners were permitted to purchase gold medals to commemorate their prior Masters wins. Not all of the champions were willing to make the financial commitment for a gold medal. Over the years, the design of the Masters Champions Medal has changed only once. The later version has a sharper strike and edge than the original version and the driveway in front of the clubhouse appears prominently in the later version but not in the earlier version. It is readily apparent just how scarce for collectors Masters Champion medals are with a quick look at the facts. First the Masters has had only 84 champions, secondly the awarding of gold championship medals for the years prior to 1951 cannot be fully ascertained, and finally an economic fact with modern era golf many of the winners have been major stars who have either retained their medals or donated them to museums (Nicklaus, Palmer, Woods, etc.). It is easy with these concepts in mind to see why there really is few opportunities for a collector to acquire a Masters Championship Gold Medal. As a loose comparison of value a RETROACTIVE (not awarded day of championship) medal made for 1941 Masters Champion Craig Woods was purported to have changed collectors hands at just over $100,000. This accounts for one of the few known transactions of these ultimate of Masters collectibles. The Charles Coody awarded 1971 Masters champion medal measures 1.75" in diameter and weighs 1.7 ounces. Gold content is stamped on the edge at "10K." Photos included with this offering clearly show, the detail given to this award is stunning while the condition remains Near Mint quite similar to its day of presentation. The front of the medal depicts the famed Augusta National clubhouse along with the driveway surrounding the Founders Circle. The perimeter reads, "Augusta National Golf Club." Verso features the familiar Augusta National logo (map of the USA with the flag coming out of the State of Georgia), and it reads, "Masters Tournament" and "Charles Coody". "In original presentation case. Letter of provenance from Charles Coody and photo of him holding medal. Ownership of this champions medal awarded by the Augusta National on the day the 1971 Masters tournament was won will elevate the collector into an elite realm, and make it's owner the curator of an award that is sure to be treasured and revered for ages to come. A signed letter of provenance from Charles Coody will come with this lot.

CHARLES COODY'S CAREER IN GOLF

At an early age Charles Coody set his sights on being a professional golfer. He honed his skill on championship golf teams at T.C.U. Then qualified for the 1960 and '61 U.S. Opens as an Amateur while advancing to the semi-finals of the U.S.G.A.'s Amateur Championship in 1962. In 1963, Coody would step away from his time as an Air Force officer to join the PGA TOUR. He quickly became known as one of the best iron players on Tour, "a real shot maker". This ability led to top 60 placement on the PGA Tour money list for 13 consecutive seasons. For a player who once said, "Golf is my only livelihood," Coody had that, providing consistently on TOUR over the years for his beloved family of wife Lynette and three children. Outside this Tour consistency, Coody had a trial run at a career defining moment in 1969 when he led the Masters with three holes to play on Sunday afternoon, with bogey on each of those holes he fell to fifth place but valuable lessons had been learned. Charles would claim his place in Master's and golf history with the 1971 tournament. He raced to the Masters first round lead that year with an opening 66 pacing his round with a two under score over the famed Amen corner portion of the course (to this day Charles claims the par 3 #12 as his favorite hole at the Augusta National). Following a two under Saturday score of 70 to complete his first 54 holes, Charles was tied with already three-time Masters champ Jack Nicklaus. On Sunday Coody found himself in a back nine fight with two future Hall of Famers in a young hotshot Johnny Miller and the games best at the time Nicklaus. This time Coody under the enormous pressure of the back nine at Augusta with the Masters on the line rolled in a birdie at 15 and followed with a second birdie in a row at 16, draining a 15-fott putt. With finishing pars at both 17 and 18 Charles had calmly posted a two under round of 70 for the second straight day giving him a four day total of 279 and a two stroke victory over Miller and Nicklaus who tied for second.

Coody's other wins on the PGA TOUR were the Dallas Open in 1964 and the Cleveland Open in 1969 which combined with the '71 Masters win gave him three titles over a seven year period following his professional debut in 1963. He played for the winning United States team in the Ryder Cup at Old Warson Country Club held in St. Louis in 1971. Charles won twice in 1973 on the European Tour at the Wills Masters in England and John Player Classic in Scotland. Soon after joining the Senior PGA Tour in 1987, he completed the trifecta of career Tour's triumphed on (PGA, European and Senior Tours) winning five times on the Senior circuit with victories posted in 1989, 90,91 (twice) and 96. Recent years have seen Charles actively involved in Abilene, Texas golf where he designed, owns and operates Diamondback Golf Club. He and his wife of 60 plus years (Lynette) remain in tune to the current golf scene through two of their grandchildren Parker and Pierceson. The twins both star for the University of Texas golf team having each already posted wins in prestigious Amateur events. Pierceson was recently named to this year's U.S. Walker Cup team

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