When Jack Passed Bobby

Fifty years ago this month, Nicklaus reached a major milestone

Whatever one thinks of the architecture of East Lake Golf Club, the weather in Atlanta in August or the format of the Tour Championship, the venue’s link to a golf legend is strong and enduring. What would Bobby Jones, who learned how to play there in the early years of the 20^th century, think of it all?

When Jones died in 1971 at age 69, courses and equipment were largely as they had been at the time of the first Masters in 1934 and, aside from hickory shafts having given way to steel, as they were when Jones won the Grand Slam in 1930. Sure, the grass was a little more manicured and green speeds somewhat faster, but as a sexagenarian Jones would have recognized the game. In fact, had he lived another 20 years, “modern” golf still wasn’t that much different from what he had known decades earlier.

We can only wonder what he would think of the display at East Lake in 2023. Inevitable and natural progress, or too much of everything? Some children will go home tonight trying to swing like someone he watched, not unlike the way Jones emulated the home pro of his youth, Stewart Maiden, upon the same ground.