Most people wouldn’t know that Brady Klotz’s (’13) favorite sport is basketball.

“I love basketball, but I don’t have the physical capacity to play,” says the Nappanee, Ind. native.

So he golfs.

It’s something he’s been doing since 5th grade, and now he’s currently playing golf for the Bethel Men’s Golf team.

School play hasn’t even started yet, but Klotz has had some confidence boosters in the last three weeks:

  • He broke the record at his hometown golf course, McCormick Creek.
  • He qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship soon to be held Aug. 27 in Wisconsin. (He’s the only NAIA player to make the cut.)
  • And he met Tiger Woods last weekend.

Probably the most interesting of the three is his encounter with Woods. On Aug. 6 at the Bridgestone Invitational golf tournament in Akron, Ohio, Klotz got hit from a tee shot off the sixth tee during the third round of play.

“It hurt pretty bad,” but it just left a bruise says the Bethel golfer.

Klotz says he didn’t know it was Wood’s ball until the marshals escorted him up to front to meet him. At that point, the famous golf pro was already pulling off his glove to autograph and hand to Klotz.

“I kind of went into shock, because he’s [Wood’s] the reason I got involved in golf. … He made golf cool,” says the Bethel business education major. “He shook my hand and asked if I was alright. He seemed sincere.”

Then he handed Klotz his white, left-handed glove with his autograph. Klotz says it’s the exact same size, style and brand of his current glove.

While Klotz has tried it on a few times, he won’t ever wear it to play golf. He doesn’t want to smudge the autograph.

And Klotz’s mom has got involved in the excitement. She looked on line to see if she could find the value of the glove. She says it’s possible it could be bought for up to $8,000.

“That’s a lot of money, but I don’t think I’m going to sell it,” Klotz says.

He has plans to eventually frame the glove, but for now, he has a couple weeks to prepare for the next big events – the Nappanee City tournament, U.S. Amateur and then eventually his first college round on Aug. 29.