Bobby Jones succes on the golf course is well documented. His design of Augusta National and the creation of the Masters are also well known. But his accomplishments go well beyond this. Below is an excerpt from Bobby Jones official website www.BobbyJones.com called Life of a Champion.
The excerpt picks Bobby up at the height of his golf success and continues until his death. It is truly a remarkable story.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WOULD CALL JONES’ GRAND SLAM VICTORY THE ALL’TIME ACHIEVEMENT IN SPORTS HISTORY.
In 1930, Jones accomplished the unthinkable by winning the U.S. and British Open and Amateur Championships all in the same year. This tremendous feat, called “The Impregnable Quadrilateral” by Keeler, and later dubbed the Grand Slam, a term borrowed from the card game bridge, has never been duplicated. Fourteen years later, the Associated Press would call Jones’ accomplishment the all-time achievement in sports history. In 2000, Golf Digest magazine listed the Grand Slam as the greatest achievement of the century.
A CHANGE OF COURSE
Most of those who followed the game of golf assumed Jones would turn professional and continue to win championships for years to come. Having already dominated both professionals and amateurs, there seemed to be no limit to the number of tournaments Jones 
would win. But, just over a month after winning the Grand Slam, Bobby Jones shocked the world by retiring from competitive golf at the age of 28.
Amazingly, Jones amassed his incredible record while playing no more frequently than the average weekend golfer, about 80 rounds per year. He typically spent no more than three months out of the year traveling to, and playing in, tournaments. Consequently, he played almost exclusively in national championships, viewing other tournaments as a sideline used only as a tune-up for the majors after a long layoff. Although Jones would never again play in a national championship, he continued to leave his indelible mark on the game through other endeavors.
In retirement, Jones continued to demonstrate his wide range of talents and interests. Having already contributed immeasurably to the game as a player, he proved himself to be equally impressive as a teacher, writer and golf course designer. In 1931, Jones began working on 12 short, educational golf films for Warner Brothers entitled “How I Play Golf.” (Available is both our eBay and Amazon Stores) Hollywood stars like W.C. Fields clamored to participate in the project. O.B. Keeler wrote the scripts, which generally consisted of a loose story line with instruction from Jones mixed in somewhere along the way. Entertaining and insightful, the films are still considered classics today.
Jones also assisted A.G. Spalding & Co. in designing the first set of matched golf clubs. As a player, Jones had always worked closely with club makers in the design of his own clubs. He worked with Spalding to create a set of clubs that would have the superior feel of hand-crafted Scottish clubs, but could be mass produced in the U.S. and sold as sets. After rejecting over 200 different clubs, Jones finally arrived at a set that satisfied him. The clubs were made with steel shafts–a design that was quickly replacing the hickory shafts Jones had used. Each club was also given a number instead of the old Scottish names used up until that time, an innovation that quickly became the industry standard and remains in place today. The clubs appeared in 1932 bearing Jones’ name and sold steadily for over 40 years.
Perhaps Bobby Jones’ greatest legacy to the game of golf was his design of the Augusta National Golf Club. Still considered one of the finest golf courses in the world, Augusta opened in 1933 and is home to the Masters, one of the four major tournaments played today.
In 1942, at the age of 40, Jones was commissioned a captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps, intent on doing his part to support the war effort. He later served as an intelligence officer with the U.S. 9th Air Corps, but his unit was converted to infantry and landed at Normandy on D–Day plus one. After spending two days under intense enemy fire, Jones remained in Europe for several months before returning from the war as a Lieutenant Colonel. Later in life, Jones would speak little about his experiences in the war, deflecting the subject in much the same way as he deflected people’s efforts to get him to talk about his exploits in golf.
COURAGE TO THE END
In 1948, Jones would come face to face with the greatest challenge of his life. Suffering from severe back and neck pain, tests showed he had bone growths on three cervical vertebrae. Eventually, he was diagnosed with syringomyelia, a rare and degenerative disease of the central nervous system. Paralysis first required Jones to use a cane, then leg braces, and finally a wheelchair. At first glance, Jones’ fate might appear a cruel irony, as the author of one of golf’s most graceful and powerful swings lived out his days crippled by a deadly disease. But those who knew him would disagree. While known primarily for his unmatched skill on the golf course, the true measure of Bobby Jones was his character. One story passed down through the years has Jones responding to a question about his disease late in life with the statement, “We all have to play the ball as it lies.” And play it he did, enduring tremendous pain with stoic bravery for some 22 years. “As a young man,” wrote Herbert Warren Wind, “he was able to stand up to just about the best that life can offer, which is not easy, and later he stood up with equal grace to just about the worst.”
WHILE KNOWN PRIMARILY FOR HIS UNMATCHED SKILL ON THE GOLF COURSE, THE TRUE MEASURE OF BOBBY JONES WAS HIS CHARACTER.
On December 18, 1971, golfers on the Old Course at St. Andrews stopped play as the flag on the clubhouse in front of the 18th hole was lowered to half–staff. The legendary Bobby Jones was dead at the age of 69.
Just how great was Bobby Jones? “Down the years people have wondered whether Jones was the greatest of all golfers,” British golf writer Pat Ward–Thomas said of Jones. “Comparison is invidious, for no man can do more than win and Jones won more often within a given period than anyone else has ever done. In his time, Jones was supreme, at match and medal play, to a greater extent than Hogan or Nicklaus has been in theirs.” For many, Robert Tyre Jones Jr. of Atlanta, Georgia was, quite simply, the greatest of them all.
© 2005 – 2008 Jonesheirs, Inc.
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6 Comments »
speaks for the success of his strategy.
