At age three, Tiger Woods shot 48 over nine holes at the Navy Golf Club in Cypress, California.
The score became an early illustration of Woods’s unusual golfing ability. He began playing with child-sized clubs under the guidance of his father, Earl Woods, who introduced him to the game and carefully encouraged his interest. A nine-hole score of 48 is notable for a toddler because it shows that Woods was already able to complete a genuine golf round rather than merely hit a few exhibition shots.
The Navy course, also known as the Navy Golf Course in Cypress, was closely associated with Woods’s childhood. It was where he played and practiced during his earliest years, long before he became a nationally known junior, college golfer and professional champion.
This story is often mixed up with Woods’s first television appearance. In 1978, at age two, he appeared on The Mike Douglas Show and putted against Bob Hope. The 48 belongs to the following age milestone on the golf course, not to the television segment.