Bobby Jones

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Lore & Background

Jones was the most successful amateur golfer ever to compete at a national and international level. During his peak from 1923 to 1930, he dominated top-level amateur competition, and competed very successfully against the world's best professional golfers. Jones often beat stars such as Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen, the era's top pros. Jones earned his living mainly as a lawyer, and competed in golf only as an amateur, primarily on a part-time basis, and chose to retire from competition at age 28, though he earned significant money from golf after that, as an instructor and equipment designer. Explaining his decision to retire, Jones said, 'It [championship golf] is something like a cage. First you are expected to get into it and then you are expected to stay there. But of course, nobody can stay there.' Jones is most famous for his unique 'Grand Slam,' consisting of his victory in all four major golf tournaments of his era (the open and amateur championships in both the U.S. and the U.K.) in a single calendar year (1930). In all Jones played in 31 majors, winning 13 and placing among the top ten finishers 27 times. After retiring from competitive golf in 1930, Jones founded and helped design the Augusta National Golf Club soon afterwards in 1933. He also co-founded the Masters Tournament, which has been annually staged by the club since 1934 (except for 1943–45, when it was canceled due to World War II). The Masters evolved into one of golf's four major championships. Jones came out of retirement in 1934 to play in the Masters on an exhibition basis through 1948. Jones played his last round of golf at East Lake Golf Club, his home course in Atlanta, on August 18, 1948. A picture commemorating the event now sits in the clubhouse at East Lake. Citing health reasons, he quit golf permanently thereafter. Jones suffered from a rare neurological condition called syringomyelia, which eventually robbed him of the ability to walk. He died of cardiovascular disease in 1971. Bobby Jones was often confused with the prolific golf course designer Robert Trent Jones, with whom he worked from time to time. 'People always used to get them confused, so when they met, they decided each be called something different,' Robert Trent Jones Jr. said. To help avoid confusion, the golfer was called 'Bobby,' and the golf course designer was called 'Trent.'

In Their Own Story

In the first round of the 1925 U.S. Open at the Worcester Country Club near Boston, Jones's approach shot to the 11th hole's elevated green fell short into the deep rough of the embankment. As he took his stance to pitch onto the green, the head of his club brushed the grass and caused a slight movement of the ball. He took the shot, then informed his playing partner Walter Hagen and the USGA official covering their match that he was calling a penalty on himself. Hagen was unable to talk him out of it, and they continued play. After the round and before he signed his scorecard, officials argued with Jones but he insisted that he had violated Rule 18, moving a ball at rest after address, and took a 77 instead of the 76 he otherwise would have carded. Jones's self-imposed one-stroke penalty eventually cost him the win by a stroke in regulation, necessitating a playoff, which he then lost. Although praised by many sports writers for his gesture, Jones was reported to have said, 'You might as well praise me for not robbing banks.' A similar event occurred in the next U.S. Open, played at the Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio. In the second round, after his opening round put him in second place, Jones was putting on the 15th green in the face of a strong wind. After grounding his putter during address to square up the club face, the ball rolled a half turn in the wind when Jones lifted the club head to place it behind the ball. Although no one else observed this movement of the ball either, again Jones called a penalty on himself, but this time Jones went on to win the tournament, the second of his four U.S. Open victories.

Reader's Guide

Jones was born on March 17, 1902, in Atlanta, Georgia. He battled health issues as a young boy, and golf was prescribed to strengthen him. Encouraged by his father, 'Colonel' Robert Purmedus Jones, an Atlanta lawyer, Jones loved golf from the start. He developed quickly into a child prodigy who won his first children's tournament at the age of six at his home course at East Lake Golf Club. In 1916, Jones won his first major golf event when he claimed the inaugural Georgia Amateur Championship conducted by the Georgia State Golf Association at the Capital City Club, in Brookhaven, at age 14. His victory at this event put him in the national spotlight for the first time. The Georgia Amateur win caught the eye of the United States Golf Association which awarded Jones his first invitation to the U.S. Amateur at Merion near Philadelphia. Jones advanced to the quarterfinals in his first playing in the event. He was influenced by club professional Stewart Maiden, a native of Carnoustie, Scotland. Maiden was the professional at the Atlanta Athletic Club's East Lake Golf Club, who also trained Alexa Stirling, the three-time winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur, who was five years older than Jones but also a prodigy at East Lake. Jones also received golf lessons from Willie Ogg when he was in his teenage years. Jones played frequently with his father, a skilled golfer himself. The younger Jones sometimes battled his own temper on the course, but later controlled his emotions as he became more experienced. Jones toured the U.S. during World War I from 1917 to 1918, playing exhibition matches before large crowds, often with Alexa Stirling and Perry Adair, to generate income for war relief. Playing in front of such crowds in these matches helped him, as he moved into national competition a bit later on. Jones successfully represented the United States for the first time, in two winning international amateur team matches against Canada, in 1919 and 1920, earning three of a possible four points in foursomes and singles play. In 1919 he traveled to Hamilton Golf and Country Club, for his first serious competitive action outside the U.S., while in 1920, Engineers Country Club, in Roslyn, Long Island, hosted the matches. Still a teenager, he was by far the youngest player in the series. Jones also played in the 1919 Canadian Open while in Hamilton, Ontario, performing very well

Did You Know?

• Jones won his first major golf event at age 14: the inaugural Georgia Amateur Championship in 1916.
• Jones is the only player ever to have won the pre-Masters Grand Slam (all four major championships) in a single calendar year (1930).
• Jones retired from competitive golf at age 28, saying championship golf is 'something like a cage.'
• Jones made a bet on himself winning the 1930 Grand Slam at 50–1 odds and collected over $60,000.