3/17/1902: Augusta co-founder Bobby Jones was born in Atlanta, GA
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Robert Tyre Jones was born on this day, in Atlanta, Georgia to Clara Thomas and Robert Purmedus Jones. As a young boy, young Bobby was prescribed golf to strengthen him after battling health issues.
He was a natural at the sport, winning his first tournament at East Lake Golf Club at age six. He won his first major championship The U.S. Open at Inwood C.C. in 1923 at age 21.
On this date, In 1902 Robert Tyre Jones was born in Atlanta, Georgia.
Bobby Jones accomplished more in golf at the age of 25 than most players ever will in their career. Between 1923 and 1930, he won 7 Major Championships, four U.S. Open’s and three Open Championships.
Additionally, he collected five U.S. Amateur & one British Amateur titles. Jones retired from golf at the age of 28 to focus on law.
Ticker Tape Parade(s)
Bobby Jones is the only golfer to have two ticker tape parades in New York City. The first coming in 1926 after his triumph at Royal Lytham & St. Annes during the 1926 Open Championship.
The second came after Jones completed his “Grand Slam” in 1930.
The only other golfer to receive this honor was Ben Hogan in 1953 after he won “The Triple Crown”.
Bobby Jones’ Dream Course, Augusta National
Augusta National was the brainchild of Bobby Jones. After retiring from competitive golf in 1930, he founded and helped design the Augusta National Golf Club soon afterwards in 1933.
It was around July of 1931 when newspapers like the New York Times were pumping out headlines like “Bobby Jones to build dream course”…”Jones to build an ultimate golfers test in Augusta”.
All in the same, Augusta National was a highly touted golf course even before it broke ground merely because of the individuals involved.
His friend Clifford Roberts, a New York City investment dealer, knew of Jones’s desire, became aware of a promising property for sale in Augusta, Georgia, where Jones’s mother-in-law had grown up, and informed Jones about it.
Jones first visited Fruitlands, an Augusta arboretum and indigo plantation since the Civil War era, in the spring of 1930, and he purchased it for $70,000 in 1931, with the plan to design a golf course on the site.
Jones co-designed the Augusta National course with Alister MacKenzie; the new club opened in early 1933. He founded the Masters Tournament, first played at Augusta in March 1934.
The new tournament, originally known as the Augusta National Invitational, was an immediate success, and attracted most of the world’s top players right from its start.
Jones came out of retirement to play, essentially on an exhibition basis, and his presence guaranteed enormous media attention, boosting the new tournament’s fame.
