Bobby Jones: The First Greatest Golfer
| Categories: Tech History
Bobby Jones, a 1922 Mechanical Engineering graduate from Georgia Tech and later an English Literature graduate from Harvard, achieved in his brief golf career what no one else has accomplished since: winning the Grand Slam in one calendar year. In fact, the now-common golf and tennis term used when a player wins all of the four major events, was coined for Jones. After completing the feat in 1930, he promptly retired after that season, serving as the greatest end to a golf career. His final eight seasons still stand in history as one of the most remarkable runs in professional or amateur golf. He won 13 majors (five U.S. Amateurs, four U.S. Opens, three British Opens, and one British Amateur) from 1923 to 1930, became the lone winner of the “original” Grand Slam that predates the PGA Championship and The Masters, the latter of which Jones created.
Jones decided to go to Georgia Tech because his best friend Perry Adair (whose father helped build East Lake Golf Club) was a student at Tech, says Eric Steagall, a PhD candidate at Georgia Tech and author of the peer-reviewed article The Spirit of Atlanta: Bobby Jones, Golf, and the New South, 1919–1930. It's rumored that the Georgia Tech golf team was created knowing Jones was coming to campus in 1918. The team only lasted one season as there weren't enough players from 1919 onward to field a team (at least four players are required). Jones finished out his time at Tech still competing as an amateur, winning five tournaments individually between 1919 and 1922, plus winning his first of five Walker Cups in 1922.
When he arrived at Harvard, Jones hoped to continue to play collegiately. But the NCAA did not permit him to do so, because he had spent four years at Georgia Tech and had played competitively there. Steagall says there may have been a misunderstanding between Jones and the NCAA, but nonetheless, before graduating in 1924, Jones continued to play excellent golf, winning his first major championship at the 1923 U.S. Open.
After graduating from Tech and Harvard, Jones returned to Atlanta to pursue a law degree at Emory University. Back in 1926 when he started studying at Emory, there was no requirement stating when a law school student had to take the bar exam, so three semesters in, Jones took the exam, passed, and dropped out of Emory to begin practicing law at his father’s firm.
Bobby’s golfing legacy is sprinkled all over Atlanta today. Both the Atlanta Athletic Club and Atlanta History Center feature exhibits dedicated to his career, the AAC housing the four trophies from his 1930 Grand Slam season.
After setting the gold standard in golf with his Grand Slam in 1930, Jones returned to Tech in 1931 to become the Georgia Tech Alumni Association President and was elected to the board of the Athletic Association at just 29 years old, serving in this capacity until 1933. He oversaw the creation of the Georgia Tech Alumni Foundation in May 1932. In 1958, he was inducted into the Georgia Tech Athletic Hall of Fame.
Today, the Georgia Tech Golf team player of the year award is known as the Robert Tyre Jones Award in honor of Jones’ legacy in golf and his steadfast commitment to Georgia Tech. Jones passed away on Dec. 18, 1971. In 1997, he was posthumously inducted into Georgia Tech’s Engineering Hall of Fame.
