Golfing legend, the late Arnold Palmer, described this win as the greatest achievement of his golfing career – and the little dance he performed on the 18th green at Augusta, Georgia, underlined that.

In April 1964 Palmer became the first man to become a four-times winner of the famed Masters when he spectacularly lifted himself out of a months-long slump to play the tournament in 12-under par, six strokes ahead of fellow Americans Jack Nicklaus and Dave Marr.

The final few holes on the final day must have been a jubilant hour or so for the man known as The King. When he birdied the 14th and 15th holes to move to 11-under he would have known he had the tournament won, so when he rammed home a 25-foot birdie putt on the last hole, Palmer was instantly up on his toes in celebration, swinging his putter as if to put an exclamation mark to his historic victory.

Is this something only a New Zealander would do? He began telephoning every A. Palmer listed in and around the city of Latrobe in Pennsylvania.

“I didn’t know Mr Palmer’s address or phone number, but I found out in which city he lived and made a large number of person-to-person calls until I managed to speak with him,” he recalls.

“Fortunately the lady who helped me at the phone centre was very enthusiastic as she also played golf, and she made call after call until we achieved success.”

Mike Brooke recalls that he had a pleasant conversation with Palmer for several minutes.

“I honestly thought he would offer a golf glove or a cap. But he told me that he was a bit of a hoarder and that he would see if he had a putter or club that would help us.”

What eventually arrived at the New Plymouth Golf Club surpassed the club committee’s wildest dreams. It was the very Arnold Palmer Personal putter that he had used to win the 1964 Masters plus numerous other professional tournaments.

“This particular putter is one that I used for two or three years in the middle 1960s, during which time I was fortunate enough to add some 12 or 13 tournament victories to my record, including the 1964 Masters Championship,” Palmer wrote in a letter accompanying the delivery from the tiny town of Youngstown, Pennsylvania.

“I’m not sure that I shouldn’t have kept this one and tried it again at the present time.”

The club promptly had a special display case made for the putter, and every year since it has been used as the trophy for the junior event known as the Arnold Palmer Tournament. And each year, the winning players have been allowed to remove the putter from its case and use it for a short time on a practice green.

Plymouth  Golf Club has decided to return its famous Arnold Palmer putter to the United States where it will be put up for auction. Like most other golf clubs in New Zealand, the club is facing financially challenging times, and funds earned from the putter’s sale will help it maintain the championship status of its highly-regarded Ngamotu course.

And whatever Arnold Palmer’s putter fetches, it won’t be forgotten in New Plymouth.

The golf club intends finding, or creating, a replica putter so it can continue to be used as a junior golf trophy, and it also plans to turn a part of its clubhouse into Arnie’s Corner – an area that will recognise Arnold Palmer’s remarkable generosity 37 years ago.

Source: stuff