The Myrtle Beach Sun-News
June 1, 2005 

HEADLINE: Columnist's Bobby Jones story a fine biography

A well-done biography places the person in the perspective of his or
her time, helping readers understand the subject's family, culture and
universe.  Ron Rapoport's biography of Robert T. (Bobby) Jones is rich
with details of the world of "Bobby Jones and the Golden Age of Golf,"
the volume's subtitle.  Rapoport, a columnist for the Chicago
Sun-Times, is a first-rate writer. One would expect a well-written
book from him and "The Immortal Bobby" does not disappoint.

The book's title comes from the British man "considered by many to be
the finest writer the sport has ever produced: Bernard Darwin." The
title was on a chapter on Jones in Darwin's book, "Golf Between Two
Wars."  Rapoport writes about the growth of golf in the United States
following World War I and then the effect of the Depression on golf
and the decline of amateur golf.

Jones, of course, was - quite famously - an amateur.  In 1930, he won
the British and U.S. Amateurs and Opens. The Grand Slam. Rapoport
writes: "Not until Jones won the tournaments in Britain, and returned
home to his second ticker-tape parade in New York, did more than one
or two of golf's keenest observers seem to realize what he was up to."
The Grand Slam term, from contract bridge, caught on while Jones was
competing in the U.S. Open (at Interlachen in Minneapolis) and
U.S. Amateur (at Merion near Philadelphia).

"Jones had no sooner won the Grand Slam," Rapoport writes, "than it
became clear that the feat would never be repeated."  Arnold Palmer is
credited with bringing back the term in 1960, to apply to the Masters,
both Opens and the PGA championship. No golfer has won all four in the
same year.

While Jones competed only as an amateur, even before his feat of 1930,
he wrote about golf. "For the rest of his life, Jones made the bulk of
his income from golf. He wrote articles and books ... , made movies,
had his own radio show and put his name on golf clubs and other
equipment and more.  "This was the ultimate contradiction of his
career."

Among the touches that make this such a good read are the concise
histories of the four Grand Slam courses. Details of the press
coverage at Merion illustrate what a unique figure Jones was - in an
age of great athletes like Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey and Red Grange.  He
had degrees in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech and literature
from Harvard. He passed the Georgia state bar in his second year of
law school after he had won several golf championships.

For two decades until his death in 1971, he was painfully crippled
from spinal cord dysfunction. "And he never lost his sense of humor,"
Rapoport writes.  Jones was a beautiful human being as well as a great
golfer. And this is a marvelous book about his remarkable life
"... and the Golden Age of Golf."

- By D. G. Schumacher 
Myrtle Beach Golf Magazine