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father in the 1960s. Bobby’s first job with “At Chambers Bay, he took his dad was at Wilmington Country Club. a dramatic piece of land, Trent asked him to grade the first green. USGA Will Bring 2015 U.S. Open Bobby was so intent on “getting it right” with a pronounced south-to- that, on the second day of his effort, Trent To Robert Trent Jones II Course north slope and an excellent fired him. He was taking too long for his dad’s liking. By Stephen M. Foehl coastal vista, and laid over it some very intriguing golf After apprenticing with his father for several years, Bobby expanded the compa- challenges.” ny’s business to Asia and other internation- his is a milestone year for the golf al countries. In 1972, he left his father’s architect, Robert Trent Jones, II, MIKE DAVIS firm and set out on his own by founding Tbetter known as Bobby or Bob. His Robert Trent Jones II golf course architects. masterpiece course, Chambers Bay, outside major championships such as the 2011 PGA His career has spanned five decades of Seattle, Washington will host the United Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club. So and has taken him all over the world. He States Open Championship. This is the first it was natural for Bobby to design a course designed Princeville in Hawaii, Moscow time a “new” course will host an Open that will host a U.S. Open Championship. Country Club in Russia, the first course in R A L since 1970 when Hazeltine in Minnesota The Jones family settled in Montclair, Vietnam, Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach and K S that was designed by Bobby’s father, Robert and Bobby learned the game as a youngster Chambers Bay, the expansive public course an V Trent Jones, Sr. was the site of the Open. at Montclair Golf Club, a fine example of which will host the Open in June. E Yes, that Jones family. His father, known the work of the great Donald Ross for three Jones has become one of the world’s as Trent, is acknowledged as the leader of of the four nines and Charles Banks for the most accomplished golf-course architects, PHOTO BY modern golf architecture. Consider the fol- fourth. Bobby was an accomplished junior having designed more than 270 courses Robert Trent Jones planning a design. lowing excerpt from a Golf Digest article in player. He was the runner-up in the MGA in 44 countries. His honors are numerous 2000: Junior at Morris County Golf Club and the but the most recent was perhaps the most “But the sun never sets on the Robert following year he was the qualifying medal- special. To honor the contributions of the Chambers Bay is an award winning, en- Trent Jones empire. In a career that ist in the NJSGA Junior at Rockaway River. entire Jones family to Northern California, vironmentally sensitive public golf venue stretched from the Coolidge presidency to He still refers to himself as a “Jersey Boy”. Robert Trent Jones Sr., Robert Trent Jones along Washington’s Puget Sound. The en- the Clinton one, Trent Jones encircled the He was captain of his high school team that Jr. and Rees Jones were inducted into the tire course was planted in fine fescue that globe with tees, fairways and greens. won the state championship. At Yale he fifth class of the Northern California Golf should make for firm, fast conditions. And it “At the peak of his fame, a commercial played all four years including first man as Association Hall of Fame. It was especially may present some challenges for the players. jetliner was as much a tool of his trade as a a senior when the team won the Ivy League fitting for Bobby because he started his ca- “This is a very different golf course,” drafting board or a bulldozer. The numbers Championship. reer assisting his father with Spyglass Hill Davis said. “We have never played a na- are staggering. Trent had a hand in 420 golf in the 1960s and then established his own tional open on fine fescue. This is a first. designs spread over 42 American states and company in Palo Alto in 1972. It feels like a British Open, but even British 28 other nations. His work has hosted 79 Jones is an author, journalist, story tell- Opens do not have all fine fescue putting national championships, including 20 U.S. er and poet. Yes, I said poet. He has written greens. The vast majority of the golfers will Opens and 12 PGA Championships. Add extensively and maintains that golf course not have played on fine fescue greens. It to that recent Ryder and Presidents Cups design and poetry require many similar has a much different look to it. When you at Valderrama and Robert Trent Jones Golf characteristics. His book, Golf by Design, watch a putt, it doesn’t bounce. It’s firm, Club.” examines the subleties of course design but they roll beautifully.” In Jones, Sr.’s illustrious golf architec- and reveals his secrets for playing smarter, Chambers Bay allows for creative shot P ture career, he designed more than 350 better golf. I had the pleasure of playing making—particularly along the ground. courses in at least 40 states and 35 coun- GROU with him at San Francisco Golf Club, a Many holes invite players to choose among nsing tries. When he died in 2000, 44 different E wonderful Tillinghast course, and listening various routes from tee to green As Jones Lic Jones courses had been ranked in Golf J to his analysis of the holes. says, “You can play more options at Digest’s 100 Greatest Golf Course listing, RT Bobby will take center stage in June Chambers Bay than at the Chicago Futures Y OF the most of any architect. S when Chambers Bay hosts the United Market.” This should make for an exciting Trent completed a renovation of OURTE States Open Championship. “Of course, championship. Certainly it will be interest- C D Oakland Hills near Detroit in preparation here in New Jersey, the golf community is ing to watch the world’s best players BOL A PHOTO maneuver their way around. I, for one, am S for the 1951 Open and has been credited well aware of Bob’s sterling reputation in D with the utilization of gallery ropes and Youthful Robert Trent Jones II at a drafting table. course design – but his influence has been excited and looking forward to watching, stakes at the 1954 Open at Baltusrol. worldwide,” said Mike Davis, Executive and to seeing the “Jersey Boy’s” course Trent’s other son, New Jersey based After earning his undergraduate degree Director of the USGA. “At Chambers Bay, host a U.S. Open. PHOTO BY WOO Rees Jones, has been called “The Open from Yale and a year of studying law at he took a dramatic piece of land, with a Stephen M. Foehl served as execu- Robert Trent Jones II with plans on his Chambers Bay Course. Doctor” for his work on renovating and Stanford University, Bobby decided to make pronounced south-to-north slope and an tive director of the New Jersey State Golf tweaking numerous courses that were golf course architecture his life’s work. His excellent coastal vista, and laid over it some Association from 1989 through 2014. preparing to host a U.S. Open, or other earliest experience was working beside his very intriguing golf challenges.” 18 NJSGA GOLF | NJSGA.org Spring 2015 | NJSGA GOLF 19 .

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