Gary Player tees off to putt son Marc into the rough

Legendary golfer and businessman Gary Player has accused his son of putting some of his personal trophies and memorabilia up for auction, prompting 62-year-old Marc Player to fire back, saying the items were his.

The ugly spat started on Twitter on Monday, when Gary, 86, said Marc, his manager for 20 years before they parted ways in 2020 over a contractual dispute, was trying to auction off memorabilia that did not belong to him.

“I would like to draw the public’s attention to the fact that several trophies and other pieces of memorabilia that form part of my legacy have been put up for auction by my son and ex-manager, Marc,” read a statement on Gary’s Twitter account by James Throssell, his brand and legal counsel.

“These items belong to me and I have taken action to recover them. I have placed no items for sale — whether by auction or otherwise,” said the statement.

A golfing publication later reported Throssell as saying the auction house had removed the items and was holding them pending a resolution.

But claims of Marc selling his dad’s memorabilia triggered something of an outcry.

Sandie Crowley, a golfing fundi and digital media professional who goes by the brand name AugustaGolfGirl, entered the fray, tweeting: “Delete this now, James. (This account isn’t managed by Gary.) It’s harmful to post these lies about Marc. He did not steal these items, Gary gave them to him over the years before the riff you all caused.”

Marc, the oldest of Gary and Vivienne Player’s six children, hit back on Tuesday, saying his dad’s claim to the items was “baseless” and “smacks of a continued petty effort by Gary’s advisers to besmirch Marc’s name and reputation wherever possible”.

A letter released by his lawyer, Darren Heitner, detailed his efforts to catalogue more than 300 items from Gary’s career with famed auction house Christie’s London in 2002.

“Many of these items were scattered around the world or not actually won by Gary Player, but commissioned by Marc Player from artists or purchased from various other collectors,” the statement said.

“The entire Christie’s Gary Player Collection was subsequently sold to South African billionaire Johann Rupert when Marc Player’s father could not pay his outstanding personal tax bill of millions due to the South African Revenue Services,” it continued.

The statement further said there was an agreement between the two that they would split the proceeds of the sale, but that Marc never received his share.

“All other trophies or memorabilia were validly gifted to Marc Player by his parents, remain his, and Marc has been in full possession of these items for decades without any claim by his father, Gary’s management, the family, or Gary’s advisers,” it added. “You cannot take back what no longer belongs to you.”

“Not everything you read online is the whole story. I would never defend someone if I didn’t have facts to back it up. Shame on Gary Player’s new management for creating something out of nothing. (Shared with permission from Marc Player),” was Crowley’s next response.

Apart from managing his father’s businesses, Marc started the South Carolina-based Gary Player Group.

But in 2020, after an arbitration dispute between Gary and the group about ownership and naming rights, the famed golfer was awarded $5m and rights to his name and likeness after a settlement with Marc.

Gary lost Vivienne to pancreatic cancer last August. They were married for 64 years. In July 2013 he became the oldest athlete to pose nude for ESPN Magazine’s annual body issue, aimed at inspiring people to look after themselves, no matter their age.