Born
Jun 20, 1906
In
Ince-in-Makerfield, England
Died
Jun 14, 2000

About

Collaborating with Bobby Jones on a golf course in Atlanta, Robert Jones decided he needed to distinguish himself from the golf great. So he began using his middle name.

It's safe to say Robert Trent Jones made a name for himself in the sport.

Over seven decades, Jones was the world's most prolific golf designer, creating some 350 courses and renovating 150 on his way to becoming the first architect to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Estimating that he logged 8 million miles, Jones' works are in 45 states and 35 countries. He was fond of saying, "The sun never sets on a Robert Trent Jones golf course."

Jones also prided himself on making his courses difficult, requiring players to take risks. He guarded his greens with water hazards and penal bunkers and famously said: "Every golf hole should be a hard par and an easy bogey."

It was Jones' protection of par that made him the favored designer of the United States Golf Association. It also made him the scourge of many players.

At the 1970 U.S. Open, Dave Hill was asked what Hazeltine National in Minnesota lacked. "Eighty acres of corn and a few cows," said Hill who shot par that week, finishing second to Tony Jacklin.

Jones worked on 21 U.S. Open venues, becoming known as the "Open Doctor," a moniker that was passed on to his son, Rees Jones. His other course-designing son, Robert Trent Jones, Jr. received similar notices at the 2015 U.S. Open, played at Chambers Bay in Washington.

The resume of their father, who passed away in 2000 at age 93, includes American gems such as Spyglass Hill in Pebble Beach, Calif., Mauna Kea in Hawaii, The Dunes in Myrtle Beach, S.C. and Golden Horseshoe in Williamsburg, Va.

In semi-retirement, he and protege Roger Rulewich also helped transform the economy of an entire state with the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama.

The resume also includes the course that Jones designed with Bobby Jones in Atlanta. When it opened in 1948, private Peachtree Golf Club was ahead of its time with its multiple tee boxes and huge greens that accommodated many pin positions and allowed the course to withstand heavy traffic. While "prolific" is the word most used to describe Jones, Peachtree demonstrated that "visionary" might be just as appropriate.

Review Statistics

Average Rating

4.3
Average Rating
4.3
30365 Reviews (30365)
Total 30365 Reviews
378 Featured Reviews

Rating Breakdown

378 Reviews
4-5 stars
194
3-4 stars
48
2-3 stars
10
1-2 stars
6
Unrated
120
Avg. Course Layout
4.4
Avg. Off-Course Amenities
4.2
Avg. Value for the Money
4.0
Avg. Pace of Play
4.3
Avg. Friendliness
4.5
Avg. Course Conditions
4.2

Robert Trent Jones, Sr. Designed Courses Map

Robert Trent Jones, Sr. Designed Courses

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