Newly listed in this auction as of Thursday, August 25th, this Titleist golf bag with a full set of 14 clubs (putter through driver) was used by Michael Jordan in the late 1980’s and comes with strong provenance. All 11 Wilson irons are personally engraved “M.J. 23” and, presumably, custom-fitted to Jordan’s liking. We all know how much His Airness loved to play golf. Photos abound on the internet of MJ on various golf courses, smoking a cigar and smiling ear-to-ear, both during and after his legendary basketball career. Using this very set, Jordan played in the Chick Evans Memorial Pro-Amateur on June 29, 1988. (Golf enthusiasts may know Evans as one of America’s early greats, having been the first amateur to win the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur in the same year back in 1916.) The event took place at Chick Evans Golf Course in Morton Grove, IL, a north Chicago suburb.
The black-and-white leather bag shows significant wear and appears to have been used multiple times by Jordan. His personal participation tag from the 1988 Chick Evans Memorial tournament, inscribed with his full name [“MICHAEL JORDAN”], is attached. Dangling alongside is Jordan’s personal bag tag from the famous Kapulua Golf Resort in Maui, with his full name in black Dymo tape. The Kapalua tag is inscribed, “Gary Planos – PGA Director of Golf.” Planos – nicknamed “Mr. Kapalua” – was a fixture for decades at the resort, working his way up from caddie to head pro to eventually host of the PGA Tour’s annual event there. (Coincidentally, Planos was an Evans Scholar at U. of Illinois thanks to funds raised by – you guessed it – the Chick Evans Memorial Pro-Am.)
The clubs show heavy usage, yet all remain problem-free and perfectly functionable for another round if one so chooses. The complete list is as follows: Putter - Tommy Armour Zaap Alpha; Irons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, P, S - Wilson Ultra System 45 (each engraved “M.J. 23” on hosel); 3 Wood - Wilson Ultra Tour (14.5 degrees); Driver - Callaway Big Bertha Hawk Eye (10 degrees). There are some loose golf balls, tees, and ball markers in the various zipper pockets. We also discovered two of MJ’s left hand golf gloves. These bonus gems are each made by Wilson. The whiter one (men’s size XXXL) shows less wear than its counterpart. The off-white, heavily worn glove (XXL) has a red Nike ball marker stuck to its middle finger.
Included is a letter of provenance from ex-NBA player Rickie Winslow, who was gifted this bag and club set at the 1988 Chick Evans tournament. Winslow, father of current NBA player Justise Winslow, played on University of Houston’s famed Phi Slama Jama squad and was selected 28th overall in the 1987 draft by MJ’s Bulls before playing several years overseas.