Earl Woods
Encyclopedia
Earl Dennison Woods was a US Army infantry
officer who served two tours of duty in Vietnam
, and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel
. He was a college-level baseball
player and writer
, but is best remembered as the father of professional golf
er Tiger Woods
. Woods started his son in golf at a very early age, and coached him exclusively for his first years in the sport.
. His father, Miles Woods, had five children by his first wife, Viola, and six more (of whom Earl was the youngest) by his second, Maude Carter. Miles Woods was an epileptic who worked as a street cleaner and caretaker. Although he was a devout Baptist, he also had a reputation for being able to swear for 30 minutes without interruption. Earl Woods once remarked, "I picked up on that". Earl Woods' mother, Maude (Carter) Woods was a light-skinned black woman was of mixed African and European ancestry. Woods' siblings ranged from fairly dark to very light; he remembered that his grandmother Carter, a Mulatto
, was "the prettiest blonde you ever saw." There was a family joke about an alleged Chinese ancestor who "didn't stay on his railroad job," but there is no record of any Chinese ancestry. However, the family is said to have some Native American
ancestry.
Miles Woods loved baseball and passed his passion on to his son. Maude Woods, who was college educated, was determined her children should make the best of themselves. When her husband died in 1943, however, she had to go to work as a maid. Earl Woods recalled that it "broke her heart". Woods' mother died when he was 15, and he was raised from then on by his older sister Hattie Bell Woods.
(then known as Kansas State College), and played baseball, earning a varsity letter
in both 1952 and 1953.
His teammate Larry Hartshorn
recalled how Woods once was not allowed to play at a college in Mississippi
because of his race. The entire Kansas State University team refused to play and left in protest.
Woods broke the Big Eight Conference
(then the Big Seven Conference) "color barrier" in baseball
in 1951. He usually played as a catcher
, and was offered a contract by the Kansas City Monarchs
of the Negro Leagues
. However, he decided to continue his education. He graduated in 1953 with a (B.S. in Sociology
), and began his career as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army
.
, the first as an infantry officer, and the second with the elite United States Army Special Forces
.
After graduating from the Defense Information School
and being promoted to lieutenant colonel
, he was assigned as an instructor of Military Science
& Tactics, (Army ROTC) at the City College of New York
. He retired from active duty in 1974.
Woods moved to southern California
, and became an agent for corporations involved in defense industry contracting.
. They had three children: Earl Dennison Jr. (1955), Kevin Dale (1957), and Royce Renee (1961). Earl Jr.'s daughter Cheyenne Woods
is also a competitive golfer and received some coaching from Earl Sr.
Woods and his wife divorce
d in 1968 in Ciudad Juárez
, Mexico
.
Woods had met his second wife while stationed in Thailand in 1966. She is Kultida Punswad, who is half Thai
and half Chinese
. They married in 1969 in Brooklyn, New York. Their son Eldrick
was born in 1975. His son's nickname, "Tiger," comes from Earl Woods' wartime friendship with Colonel
Vuong Dang "Tiger" Phong, a courageous pilot who flew the Vietnamese Army
.
’s Fort Hamilton
, and learned to play golf
, starting at age 42, at the Dyker Beach Golf Course
in Dyker Heights. From his first experience with golf, Earl Woods was captivated by it, and played a great deal for the remainder of his life. He eventually became a good standard amateur golfer, often scoring in the 70s for 18 holes. Earl claimed to be playing close to scratch handicap level when Tiger was born in late 1975. Coached by his father, Tiger Woods was introduced to golf in Orange County, California
before age two, and became a child prodigy in golf, perhaps the most precocious young golfer in history. Tiger learned golf first on the U.S. military courses in southern California.
club professionals in the area. Earl Woods has been criticized by some for putting too much pressure on Tiger. In 1993, following Tiger's third straight title in the USGA Junior Amateur Championship, Earl Woods sought out superstar teacher Butch Harmon
to develop Tiger's game to the next level. Harmon, upon meeting Tiger Woods for the first time in Houston in summer 1993, praised the coaching which Earl Woods, Duran, and Anselmo had done to that stage.
Earl Woods retired from his second career in 1988. He traveled to Tiger's events as often as possible for the rest of his life. Earl Woods hired Connecticut
attorney John Merchant in 1996 to help facilitate the path for Tiger to turn professional, and to secure lucrative sponsorship agreements when he did so. Merchant had been the first African American
member of the United States Golf Association
's Executive Committee. Tiger signed deals with Nike
, Titleist
, and the International Management Group, which made him a multi-millionaire as soon as he declared professional status, in late August 1996. Tiger's deals broke by a wide margin all records for sponsorship money in golf. Soon after Tiger turned professional, Merchant was fired by Earl Woods.
in 1998. He survived it, but died from a heart attack
at his home in Cypress, California
in 2006 at the age of 74. He was buried at Sunset Cemetery in Manhattan, Kansas
is named in his honor. It was host to the first First Tee National Academy in 2000.
Reactions to the commercial varied widely, with criticisms being particularly leveled at Nike for utilizing Tiger's own domestic issues for commercial gain and plaudits being forwarded to Tiger for addressing how the scandal had affected him both in private and public life.
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
officer who served two tours of duty in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
. He was a college-level baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, but is best remembered as the father of professional golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
er Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
. Woods started his son in golf at a very early age, and coached him exclusively for his first years in the sport.
Early life
Earl Woods was born in Manhattan, KansasManhattan, Kansas
Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...
. His father, Miles Woods, had five children by his first wife, Viola, and six more (of whom Earl was the youngest) by his second, Maude Carter. Miles Woods was an epileptic who worked as a street cleaner and caretaker. Although he was a devout Baptist, he also had a reputation for being able to swear for 30 minutes without interruption. Earl Woods once remarked, "I picked up on that". Earl Woods' mother, Maude (Carter) Woods was a light-skinned black woman was of mixed African and European ancestry. Woods' siblings ranged from fairly dark to very light; he remembered that his grandmother Carter, a Mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
, was "the prettiest blonde you ever saw." There was a family joke about an alleged Chinese ancestor who "didn't stay on his railroad job," but there is no record of any Chinese ancestry. However, the family is said to have some Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
ancestry.
Miles Woods loved baseball and passed his passion on to his son. Maude Woods, who was college educated, was determined her children should make the best of themselves. When her husband died in 1943, however, she had to go to work as a maid. Earl Woods recalled that it "broke her heart". Woods' mother died when he was 15, and he was raised from then on by his older sister Hattie Bell Woods.
College, sports, segregation
Earl Woods attended Kansas State UniversityKansas State University
Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
(then known as Kansas State College), and played baseball, earning a varsity letter
Varsity letter
A varsity letter is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its winner was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met.- Description :...
in both 1952 and 1953.
His teammate Larry Hartshorn
Larry Hartshorn
Larry LeRoy "Rube" Hartshorn was a former NFL Offensive Guard who played for the Chicago Cardinals in 1955 and 1957. He later played in the Canadian Football League with the Calgary Stampeders in 1958....
recalled how Woods once was not allowed to play at a college in Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
because of his race. The entire Kansas State University team refused to play and left in protest.
Woods broke the Big Eight Conference
Big Eight Conference
The Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football, was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University...
(then the Big Seven Conference) "color barrier" in baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
in 1951. He usually played as a catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
, and was offered a contract by the Kansas City Monarchs
Kansas City Monarchs
The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro Leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri and owned by J.L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 1930. J.L. Wilkinson was the first Caucasian owner at the time...
of the Negro Leagues
Negro league baseball
The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams predominantly made up of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relatively successful leagues beginning in...
. However, he decided to continue his education. He graduated in 1953 with a (B.S. in Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
), and began his career as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
.
Military career
Woods served two combat tours during the Vietnam WarVietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, the first as an infantry officer, and the second with the elite United States Army Special Forces
United States Army Special Forces
The United States Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets because of their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force tasked with six primary missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, hostage rescue, and...
.
After graduating from the Defense Information School
Defense Information School
The Defense Information School, or DINFOS, is a United States Department of Defense school located at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. Members from all branches of the U.S...
and being promoted to lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
, he was assigned as an instructor of Military Science
Military science
Military science is the process of translating national defence policy to produce military capability by employing military scientists, including theorists, researchers, experimental scientists, applied scientists, designers, engineers, test technicians, and military personnel responsible for...
& Tactics, (Army ROTC) at the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
. He retired from active duty in 1974.
Woods moved to southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and became an agent for corporations involved in defense industry contracting.
Personal life
Woods married Barbara Gary on May 18, 1954, in Abilene, KansasAbilene, Kansas
Abilene is a city in and the county seat of Dickinson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 6,844.-History:...
. They had three children: Earl Dennison Jr. (1955), Kevin Dale (1957), and Royce Renee (1961). Earl Jr.'s daughter Cheyenne Woods
Cheyenne Woods
Cheyenne Nicole Woods is an American amateur golfer.Woods was born in Phoenix, Arizona. She is a daughter of Earl Dennison Woods Jr., golfer Tiger Woods's older half-brother. Her grandfather, Earl Woods Sr., was her first coach. She played for the Xavier College Preparatory golf team and won...
is also a competitive golfer and received some coaching from Earl Sr.
Woods and his wife divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d in 1968 in Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
Woods had met his second wife while stationed in Thailand in 1966. She is Kultida Punswad, who is half Thai
Thai people
The Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...
and half Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
. They married in 1969 in Brooklyn, New York. Their son Eldrick
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
was born in 1975. His son's nickname, "Tiger," comes from Earl Woods' wartime friendship with Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Vuong Dang "Tiger" Phong, a courageous pilot who flew the Vietnamese Army
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam , sometimes parsimoniously referred to as the South Vietnamese Army , was the land-based military forces of the Republic of Vietnam , which existed from October 26, 1955 until the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975...
.
Coaches son in golf
In 1972, Woods was stationed at BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
’s Fort Hamilton
Fort Hamilton
Historic Fort Hamilton is located in the southwestern corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn surrounded by the communities of Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, and Bensonhurst, and is one of several posts that are part of the region which is headquartered by the Military District of Washington...
, and learned to play golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, starting at age 42, at the Dyker Beach Golf Course
Dyker Beach Golf Course
Dyker Beach Golf Course is a public golf course located in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. Its roots go back more than 100 years. It is one of the most played public golf courses in the nation. It has produced some notable golfers.-History:...
in Dyker Heights. From his first experience with golf, Earl Woods was captivated by it, and played a great deal for the remainder of his life. He eventually became a good standard amateur golfer, often scoring in the 70s for 18 holes. Earl claimed to be playing close to scratch handicap level when Tiger was born in late 1975. Coached by his father, Tiger Woods was introduced to golf in Orange County, California
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
before age two, and became a child prodigy in golf, perhaps the most precocious young golfer in history. Tiger learned golf first on the U.S. military courses in southern California.
Author
Earl Woods shared the techniques he used in coaching his son Tiger in two books: Training a Tiger: A Father's Guide to Raising a Winner in Both Golf and Life, and Playing Through: Straight Talk on Hard Work, Big Dreams and Adventures with Tiger. Woods coached Tiger exclusively until age five, then sought professional assistance from Rudy Duran and John Anselmo, both well-regarded PGAProfessional Golfers Association
Professional Golfers' Association, , is the usual term for a professional association in men's golf. It is often abbreviated to PGA...
club professionals in the area. Earl Woods has been criticized by some for putting too much pressure on Tiger. In 1993, following Tiger's third straight title in the USGA Junior Amateur Championship, Earl Woods sought out superstar teacher Butch Harmon
Butch Harmon
Claude "Butch" Harmon, Jr. is an American golf instructor and former professional player. He is the son of 1948 Masters Tournament champion Claude Harmon, Sr. and has been in the golf industry since 1965.-Early life:...
to develop Tiger's game to the next level. Harmon, upon meeting Tiger Woods for the first time in Houston in summer 1993, praised the coaching which Earl Woods, Duran, and Anselmo had done to that stage.
Guides Tiger's career
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
attorney John Merchant in 1996 to help facilitate the path for Tiger to turn professional, and to secure lucrative sponsorship agreements when he did so. Merchant had been the first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
member of the United States Golf Association
United States Golf Association
The United States Golf Association is the United States' national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the Rules of Golf. The USGA also provides a national handicap system...
's Executive Committee. Tiger signed deals with Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
, Titleist
Titleist
Titleist is a brand name owned by Fila for golf equipment and apparel products produced by its subsidiary called the Acushnet Company, which is headquartered in Fairhaven, Massachusetts....
, and the International Management Group, which made him a multi-millionaire as soon as he declared professional status, in late August 1996. Tiger's deals broke by a wide margin all records for sponsorship money in golf. Soon after Tiger turned professional, Merchant was fired by Earl Woods.
Death
Earl Woods was diagnosed with prostate cancerProstate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
in 1998. He survived it, but died from a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
at his home in Cypress, California
Cypress, California
Cypress is a suburban city located in the northern region of Orange County within Southern California. Its population was 47,802 at the 2010 census.-History:...
in 2006 at the age of 74. He was buried at Sunset Cemetery in Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...
Memorials
The Earl Woods National Youth Golf Academy at Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manhattan, KansasManhattan, Kansas
Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...
is named in his honor. It was host to the first First Tee National Academy in 2000.
Nike commercial
On April 8, 2010, Nike released a television commercial, created by the Wieden + Kennedy ad agency, featuring the somber face of Tiger Woods (depicted in black and white) and the voice of Earl Woods. The audio track of the commercial was taken from a 2004 interview of Earl for the documentary DVD Tiger: The Authorized DVD Collection, in which Earl discussed comparing the "authoritative" nature of his wife, Kultida, to his own "inquisitive" nature. The commercial utilized a sound bite from that interview as a backdrop to the camera capture of Tiger's face, and it was widely interpreted as a skewing of Earl's words to posthumously address Tiger's own marital issues which had recently come to light; the commercial was released on the same day that Tiger had made his anticipated return to competition at the Master's Tournament following a five-month self-imposed absence during the resulting public fallout, and it was the first commercial to feature Tiger's participation since the scandal first breached public scrutiny.Reactions to the commercial varied widely, with criticisms being particularly leveled at Nike for utilizing Tiger's own domestic issues for commercial gain and plaudits being forwarded to Tiger for addressing how the scandal had affected him both in private and public life.