2021 December Memorabilia Auction - Closing Date 12/12/21
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/12/2021
2017 Masters Champions Dinner Flag Signed by 31 with Nicklaus & Tiger Center - Charles Coody Collection
When it comes to signed Masters Champs flags, many passionate collectors have made note of the impressive quality, location and presentation of signatures from the former champions when signed for their cohorts at the annual Masters Champions Dinner. The brotherhood is small and elite, as those sitting side by side at the oblong table have a large amount of mutual respect for one another that represent different decades and even generations. Charles Coody used this 2017 dated Masters flag during the Champs Dinner as a vehicle for signatures of the greats that were in attendance for that day, each presented in uniform black sharpie. The impressive 31 signatures is highlighted of course by the two that won the most in Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, who carefully added their signatures in the center logo. Additional dinner guests and past champions include: Phil Mickelson, Gary Player, Jordan Spieth (full name), Tom Watson, Jose Maria Olazabal, Danny Willet, Bernhard Langer, Ben Crenshaw, Bob Goalby, Sandy Lyle, Zach Johnson, Craig Stadler, Tommy Aaron, Mark O' Meara, Charl Schwartzel, Bubba Watson, Adam Scott, Larry Mize, Vijay Singh, Nick Faldo, Mike Weir, Fred Couples, Ian Woosnam, Ray Floyd, Fuzzy Zoeller (in black), Trevor Immelman, Tom Watson, Angel Cabrera, Doug Ford and Charles Coody was gracious enough to sign it himself. While Coody was obtaining the 31 signatures a scant amount of errant sharpie graced the bottom left side of the flag, not affecting any of the signatures.James Spence Authentication (JSA) has reviewed this signature and their auction letter of authenticity will come with this lot. 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 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-foot 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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