Georgia: Bobby Jones
Put simply, Bobby Jones is golf royalty for a variety of reasons. He’s also about as deeply rooted in the state of Georgia as a person could be. He was born in 1902 in Atlanta, GA, the place where would also die in 1971 at 69 years old. Meanwhile, he also attended both Georgia Tech University and Emory University in Atlanta. And if that weren’t enough, he’s also one of the co-founders of The Masters in Augusta, GA. So, anyone else coming out as Georgia’s best would be near sacrilege.
What’s perhaps the most remarkable about Jones’ success in golf is that he remained an amateur throughout his career while also practicing as a lawyer. Even more incredible is the fact that he retired from the sport at just 28 years old, but he had tremendous success already up to that point.
Jones’ greatest claim was the first to win the “grand slam”, though it was a different feat at the time that he did it (1930) than it is presently. Back then, the four majors in the world consisted of the U.S. Open, The Open Championship and the U.S. and British Amateur Championships. That wasn’t his only run of major wins, though, as he won the U.S. Open three times previously, won The Open Championship two times before 1930 and captured the U.S. Amateur title four times before that year. All of this amazingly came between 1923-30.
It’s rare to see an amateur achieve such feats, especially in such a short time, but Jones was no ordinary amateur. He’s truly a singular figure in the history of golf for his efforts on the course, and his contributions after his playing career.