Jones, Bobby (1902-1971)

Golf has changed over the years. Balls fly farther. Clubs are made of space-age materials like graphite and titanium. Courses are longer, more demanding, and come in more shapes and sizes with more grass types than ever before. But no one, not ever, dominated the game during any era like Bobby Jones did during his. No one has ever won so much in so short a time. From 1923 when he won his first major, the United States Open, to his retirement in 1930, Jones won the U.S. Amateur five times, the U.S. Open four times, the British Open three times, and the British Amateur once. In 1930, at age twenty-eight, he accomplished what no one else has done when he won the Grand Slam—the U.S. Open, the British Open, the U.S. Amateur, and the British Amateur—in the same year. After winning his first major, Jones won 62 percent of the major championships he entered. There is little question that golf has had its share of greats: Harry Vardon, Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods. But no one has come close to matching Jones's record. No one has dominated his contemporaries as completely. And Jones did it all for fun, for free, as an amateur.

Robert Tyre Jones, Jr., stood out in other ways. Of the top echelon players in golfing history, he was one of the most highly educated, with degrees in mechanical engineering (Georgia Tech), literature (Harvard), and law (Emory). Born in Atlanta in 1902, Jones was the son of attorney Robert Jones and his wife Clara. From an early age it was apparent that the youngster possessed a special talent. He began playing golf at age five; at age nine he won the junior championship at East Lake, his father's club; at age 14 he won the Georgia State Amateur; at age 15 he won the Southern Amateur; at age 17 he was runner-up in both the Canadian Open and the U.S. Amateur. Jones's early success was so great that public expectations may have hindered him in tournaments, since he won no major titles until 1923. However, it appears that during this time, Jones, a perfectionist prone to bursts of anger, learned to control his emotions so well that throughout the remainder of his career he would be known for his sportsmanship and decorum on the course.

Jones's retirement, however, did not mean he was finished with golf. Although uninterested in endorsements, he produced a series of movie shorts entitled "How I Play Golf," and even helped design a new standard of golf club for Spalding Company. However, no one accomplishment demonstrated Jones's remarkable versatility as clearly as his great masterpiece—the Augusta National Golf Club. Jones, who helped raise funds to purchase land in Augusta, Georgia, known as Fruitland, co-designed the course with Dr. Alister MacKenzie. In 1934 the first annual Invitational tournament was held. By 1938 it was being called the Masters, and it eventually came to be considered as one of the four major tournaments in the world.

In 1948, Jones contracted syringomyelia, a rare and crippling spinal disease. His condition worsened over the years until he was eventually confined to a wheelchair. His greatest tribute came in 1958, when he received the Freedom of the City Award at St. Andrews, Scotland, in what many have called one of the most moving ceremonies in the history of game.

—Lloyd Chiasson Jr.

Further Reading:

Barkow, Al. Getting' to the Dance Floor: An Oral History of American Golf. New York, Atheneum, 1986.

Davis, Martin. The Greatest of Them All: The Legend of Bobby Jones. Greenwich, Connecticut, American Golfer, 1996.

Grimsley, Will. Golf: Its History, People and Events. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall, 1966.

Miller, Dick. Triumphant Journey: The Saga of Bobby Jones and the Grand Slam of Golf. New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1980.

Rice, Grantland, from the writings of O. B. Keeler. The Bobby Jones Story. Atlanta, Tupper & Love, 1953.