If Geiberger wanted reminders of his salad days, he
got them through the 8 x 10-inch prints of vintage photographs collectors gave him to sign before and after play,
including a shot of him and his former wife posing with
the Wanamaker Trophy in 1966. On every picture “the
eBay boys,” as Trevino termed the autograph seekers,
handed Geiberger, he signed “Al Geiberger, Mr. 59” as
legibly as a penmanship teacher. Unlike many younger
players, whose signatures are often indicipherable
squiggles, older players, following Arnold Palmer’s lead,
offer recognizable autographs. “I’d kind of feel guilty if
they couldn’t read it,” Geiberger said. Bob Goalby, 83,
and Jack Fleck, 90, patiently put their signatures on
pictures, gloves and golf balls, the smooth flow of Sharpies
doing for the autograph process what oversize drivers
with lightweight shafts have done to tee shots.
In addition to the period photographs, Geiberger’s caddie
also reminded him of the old days. Retired telecommunications executive Van Costa was 15 when he was assigned
Geiberger’s bag at the 1969 Avco Classic at Pleasant Valley
CC in Sutton, Mass. “He was about as tall as my bag,”
Geiberger remembered. “I asked him, ‘Can you carry that
thing?’ ” Working in the Demaret competition, where caddies (and the standard bearers) took carts, wasn’t such
hard labor for the now 58-year-old Costa, who began a
lifelong friendship with Geiberger during those early loops.
Geiberger’s payday at the Legends, $10,125, dwarfed
his take at that long-ago Massachusetts tour stop,
$301.43 for finishing T- 47, but such meager earnings
went with the times. “We thought going from $25,000
to $50,000 purses was a big leap,” Geiberger said, “and
when we we got to $100,000, we were choking to death.
That really got our attention.”
Gilbert and Snead, with a successful defense of their
2011 title, split $120,000 for winning, and even four teams
who didn’t tee off (Bob Toski’s flu-like symptoms forced
him and Fleck to scratch) got $7,500 a man. The money
is nice, although the companionship and camaraderie
seemed more valuable.
