www.compleatgolfer.co.za |
Showing You Quality Articles…ShowMe and Compleat Golfer, the official magazine of the PGA of SA, bring you some of this magazine’s top notch content right here on our site. And if that doesn’t impress you, wait ‘til you have a copy of Compleat Golfer open in front of you:
More than just the game See below for more info on the latest issues and find out how to subscribe |
The greatest golf amateur ever – Bobby Jones
Source: This article was taken from the April 2011 issue of Compleat Golfer
There will always be an argument about who is the greatest golfer to play the game, but there is no doubt at all that Bobby Jones was the best part-time golfer to ever hold a club.
There is little chance of there ever being anyone like him in this day and age of professionalism in golf – if there is any semblance of talent these days, the player will turn pro – so Bobby’s record is safe.
Jones was born into a well-off family in Atlanta, but suffered from health issues as a youngster that prevented him from eating solid food until he was five years old. He was advised to take up golf to help strengthen his body.
With the support of his father, Jones caught the golf bug very quickly and adapted to the game just as fast. By the age of six he had already won his first children’s tournament and in 1961 he made it into the quarter-final of the US Amateur Championship at the tender age of 14.
He also won the Georgia State Amateur Championship that same year.
Golf was still relatively new to America in this period, but Jones was influenced greatly by the pro at East Lake Golf Club, a Scotsman named Stewart Maiden, after his family had moved to the area.
Jones’ career went through a bit of a lean patch after that, as he grew out of his frail younger years and into a strong young man.
He did, however, tour the United States during WWI in 1917 and 1918 with Alexa Sterling, who was also coached by Stewart Maiden, playing exhibition matches in front of big crowds to raise money for war relief.
He struggled with his temper on the course early in his career, and in the 1921 Open Championship – frustrated with his play – he picked up his ball and walked off the course. It became less of an issue the more he played the game and the experience he had playing exhibitions in front of large crowds helped him a lot later in his career.
If we stop at this point and consider what he achieved by just 18 years old and realise how quickly a golfer would turn pro with similar achievements today, it’s easy to see why there will never be another amateur with as great a career as Jones.
Jones also represent the United States for the first time in two amateur team matches against Canada in 1919 and 1920, earning three out of four possible points for his country. He also played in the Canadian Open in 1919 where he finished a respectable second, but was a mammoth 16 shots behind the winner J Douglas Edgar.
But all not was lost as the two became friends and played a lot of golf together. Jones recognised Edgar for helping develop his game significantly. Jones managed to qualify for his first US Open at age 18, and by 1923 was well on his way to becoming the greatest amateur ever.
If we stop at this point and consider what he achieved by just 18 years old and realise how quickly a golfer would turn pro with similar achievements today, it’s easy to see why there will never be another amateur with as great a career as Jones.
By 1923 he was the US Open champion and with that win began a purple patch in his career. Between 1923 and 1930 Jones played in 21 Majors (national championships), winning 13 of them; he was a national hero and was the most popular sportsman in American history at that stage.
Thousands went to watch him play, not realising that he did not enjoy big crowds and felt irritated and shut-in by them.
In 1926, he became the first player to win ‘the double’, the US Open and the Open Championship in the same year.
The culmination of his career was in 1930 when he became the first – and to this date only – player to win a Grand Slam in one calendar year, winning all four of the Majors of the time: the US Open, the US Amateur, the Open Championship and the British Amateur.
Early in 1930 he allegedly took a bet on himself to achieve the illustrious slam at 50:1 before the first of the slam tournaments and collected a cool $60 000 after he had achieved the feat.
It wasn’t all plain sailing, however, when, after winning the first three legs of the Grand Slam, the wheels came off and Jones began to struggle for form, apparently bothered by the big crowds who always turned out to see him play.
He removed himself from the spotlight and had a quiet final practice at an unknown location before the US Amateur, the last hurdle between him and greatness, and came back his old unbeatable self and won it comfortably.
Jones represented the United States five times in the Walker Cup, captaining the team in 1928 and 1930, winning nine out of 10 matches, with the US winning all five of the encounters.
Then in 1930, at the age of just 28, Jones walked away from competitive golf to pursue his retirement dream of constructing a private golf course where he and his friends could privately play golf, away from the spotlight and big crowds. His dream is now known as Augusta National Golf Club.
Jones had a special affinity with the Old Course at St Andrews -after initially despising the course, he eventually won the Open Championship there and decided to leave the trophy there with his friends at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club rather than taking it back to the States.
When Jones returned to St Andrews in 1936, six years after retirement, as a normal holiday-maker to have a round with his friends, word got out that Jones was in town and by the time he got to the first tee there were nearly 2 000 people there to watch him.
In 1934, Jones came out of retirement, sort of, to play the Masters at Augusta on an exhibition basis until 1948 when he had to quit golf permanently due to ill health. That year he was diagnosed with a rare central nervous system disease that confined him to a wheelchair and prevented him from ever playing golf again.
Jones was among the first class of inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.
He had many lucrative offers to turn professional, all of which he turned down, earning his living from his legal practice and later as a coach and equipment designer.
Despite his temper on the course, he was known for his sportsmanship and his fair play – in the 1925 US Open he called a penalty on himself after rules officials admitted to not seeing any fault and leaving the decision up to him. After being praised for the gesture he replied, “You may as well praise a man for not robbing a bank.”
The USGA’s sportsmanship award is named the Bob Jones Award in his honour.
To view a video of Bobby Jones’ swing and read more about other golf legends, visit www.compleatgolfer. co.za/page/golf-legends
www.compleatgolfer.co.za |
Subscribe to Compleat GolferIf you enjoyed this article and would like to read more about local and international golf, why not subscribe to this quality publication? Give a Gift Subscription to a FriendLooking for a gift for someone with a passion for golf? Let them receive a copy of this great magazine from you every month. Latest issue of Compleat GolferSee what’s in the latest exciting issue of Compleat Golfer. |