Bobby Jones Letters: The Finest in Golf


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Bobby Jones Letters

The following is a listing of the full collection of the Bobby Jones to Charles Price letters. To view a letter, simply click on the date to the left of the description. To return to this listing click your "back" browser button. Please call us for pricing and further details on each letter.
Date		Contents / Description
1/26/53		"I have always made a practice of writing myself any stuff that appeared over my name, with the sole exception of the book I did with O.B. Keeler. Maybe I shall change my ideas at some time in the future, but I do not feel enough like getting into a controversy over comparative excellence of past and present players to do so now....I shall look forward to seeing you in Augusta this Spring."

12/12/58		"I am delighted to know that you are projecting a first class magazine devoted entirely to golf. With the growth of the game already evidenced in the past decade or so and prospective for the future, I think you ave reason to hope for good success. Certainly, a golf magazine of high quality should do much for the game..."

5/24/60		"Thank you for your letter telling me you are devoting the entire September issue of Golf to the anniversary of the Grand Slam. I shall look forward to seeing the issue...I am a little bit puzzled by your recounting of your contacts with Simon & Schuster and Sports Illustrated. I have no relations whatever with S & S, since my publisher is Doubleday, and it is news to me that S. I. as any sort of option on any part of the book, other than the description of the Augusta course they publised in April of 1959. 2 pages

5/31/60		"Anyway, I just sort of had an inspiration to do a book because of two things. One, that I felt that instructional writing was getting too damned complicated; and second, I thought that I could offer a few simple suggestions that would help the average player to improve his performance a bit and perhaps get more pleasure out of the game. I must have around two hundred or more of these old articles, and to go through them all would be quite a job. Even doing this, I would be not quite sure of selecting the sort of thing you would like." 2 pages

6/13/60		Notice of returning the approved copy for the Four Pointers to Charley...Request to send the check to Doubleday to the attention of Ferris Mack. Bobby and Ferris decided to not include an agent…"I am not eager to have one to drum up assignments for me."

6/22/60		"Mommer Keeler has told me that you wanted a picture of O.B. and me together for your September issue, and I think she rather preferred that you use one of Keeler and me together with the four cups representing the Grand Slam, plus the Walker Cup, custody of which was awarded to my club for that year to go with the other four..."

7/5/60		Bobby returning from July 4th holiday remarks on drawings sent to him by Charley. He adds "The part of your letter in which you say that you were astounded to find that the technique of hitting a golf ball has undergone very little change since my day gives me at least some moderate and slightly malicious amusement. although I should not care to say it publicly, I have been consistently astounded myself to find so great similarity in what I wrote twenty-five or thirty years ago and the utterances of our modern players via their ghost writers of recent times. In some instances, they do not even take much pains to change the language...I think it would be interesting to point out that at least a little bit was known about the game before the advent of the 'modern era'." 2 pages

7/22/60		"Thank you very much for sending back the old golf magazine, which I have received in good order."

7/29/60		"I must say it is apparent that you have made a diligent search for opportunities to flatter me...Or course, my only possible reaction is one of deep gratitude. On the other hand, I cannot help being a little fearful that anyone who reads the entire issue may find themselves from now on shuddering at least a little bit when they hear my name. My warmest regards and most sincere thanks for such a tribute."

8/12/60		"Of course, I will do the interview you want if you will make arrangements with the local stations. One thing, though, I must insist that there be no advertising indicating that I am giving golf lessons or tips on Monitor..."

8/12/60		"Thanks ever so much for the extra copy of the Bob Jones issue. I do want to send a few to various members of my family..."

10/24/61		"You could not have been more right when you said I hate to write. On the other hand, I cannot refuse anything you ask me to do. So I will try."

11/3/61		"…I regard you as a good friend, and it has always been very difficult for me to turn down a friend when he asks me to do something."

1/12/62		"By all means, send the manuscript. I should not like at all to have to do a hurry-up job..."

2/9/62		Bobby writes of his wife's illness. He writes "I have been quite upset for the past couple of weeks because it was discovered that my wife had a low-grade malignancy on one of her vocal cords."

3/2/62		"…the incident you describe when Vardon gave me the laconic 'no' answer occurred on the seventh hole of the first qualifying round for the Open Championship at Inverness, Toledo, in 1920."

3/5/62		"I have now got to Chapter 12, page 2, and am surprised you fell for that stupid myth that Scott Fitzgerald's wife, Zelda Sayre, was a friend of mine. Actually, I never met her, although I knew of her."

3/29/62		"Enclosed is a first attempt at a foreword for your book...I am going to Augusta on Tuesday...I will expect to have some word from you on my return, that is, unless I see you at the tournament, which I hope I will."

4/30/62		Bobby is delighted that the foreword was acceptable and with Charley’s deal with shell.

6/26/62		Bobby thanks Charley for two Swedish bottles given to him. He remarks, "I can already see Mary's eyes gleaming when she sees them. Since she is now my official barmaid, you will succeed in making it much easier for me to keep her on the job." He also acknowledges a note sent to him by Gene Sarazen. Finally he comments, "I hope you saw the Open. It was a great show on television."

10/18/62		"I think Random House did a beautiful job on your book…I hope you have much success with it."

10/26/62		"Your speculation about 'links' is interesting, but leaves me quite skeptical…Anyway, the old idea of 'Linksland' has more romance in it and suits me much better."

2/12/63		"I am sorry indeed that you experience with the TV was so unsatisfactory."

2/7/63		"I always make it a point to watch the The Wonderful World of Golf and enjoy it very much. I fear, though, that much of my enjoyment comes from my very considerable liking for you and Sarazen. The local color of the program is always interesting, but the golf courses are so often perfectly god-awful..."

3/31/64		"I am still a bit hazy about the manner in which the American Golfer articles were created. As you know, I was very close to Grant Rice and I let him and Keeler take more liberties with my material than anyone else before or since. Often Grant would take one or more of my Bell Syndicate articles and re-work them into a piece for the Golfer. Other times he would write an article around a conversation he had had with me and present the thing as though it were my composition..."

4/28/64		Bobby communicates that another book would have to be produced by Doubleday. He concludes by writing "We enjoyed ever so much seeing you in Augusta. I am glad that we could see the finish of the thing in such a peaceful atmosphere."

5/4/64		"Your suggestion that we 'pour' over the material for an hour or two puzzles me somewhat. We cannot do that here in this office, you know."

6/9/64		"I shall look forward to getting the material from you before you take off for St. Andrews. I truly envy you this trip."

7/27/64		Bobby wishes Charley to get well and adds "We had the goldangest show in the PGA championship that anyone could imagine. In fact, no on could imagine it. It just had to happen."

8/3/64		Bobby comments on his meticulously slow pace. "Insofar as the book is concerned, the mere fact that you described yourself in one of your letters as a slow worker leads me to caution you that 'you ain't seen nothing yet.'"

8/19/64		Bobby feels out Charley on the idea of a locall TV station producing a documentary on his life.

9/15/64		"I am most relieved to have your letter about the wood-cut. I was captivated by it on first sight to the point, confidentially, of having Mrs. Marshall take down the picture of Eisenhower with a resolution about my father under it and place the wood-cut on the wall directly facing my desk, in spite, too, of the fact that I have an etching of the St. Andrews club house on the wall behind my chair..."

12/9/64		"The books arrived in due course and appear to represent a splendid job. Mary has taken a real good look at one and likes it very much. I must confess, however, that at this point I have not felt like reading anything more difficult than 'Peanuts'. You gave me quite a shock and, to be honest, quite a trill, when Mary read the dedication. I had no notion that you intended doing any such thing. I want you to know that I am most sincerely grateful."

5/3/65		Letter addressed to Colonial Country Club. Bobby writes "I will be happy to have you go ahead with the 'documentary' you mentioned...however, there is a very good thirty minute instructional film available. It is one I wrote and directed for Spalding back in the middle Thirties, using Horton Smith, Jimmy Thompson, Lawsson Little and Harry Cooper..."

5/4/65		"Unless there is some mad rush about this film business…"

7/2/65		"I have borrowed from an unknown friend a rather large book which contains a dozen or so of my old newspaper pieces and at least a dozen pages of very good pictures."

7/12/65		"I am, of course, looking forward to receiving the first three chapters of the book. I shall be glad to get my teeth into something." Also, with post script from Bobby.

7/23/65		"There are two more fine golf courses you should see if you have not already done so. One I must immodestly claim is Peachtree in Atlanta, which is similar to Augusta, although lacking Augusta's natural beauty; and Garden City on Long Island. This latter is one of the great old fashioned courses. If it has not been altered too much since I played it, I am sure it would prove itself today to be one of those enduring tests of real championship golf."

8/19/65		"Thanks so much for the fine piece you wrote for Esquire...I am a little curious to know where you got the that notion about those six putts of over 100 feet I am supposed to have holed in the 1927 British Open. The 40-yarder is authentic, having been paced off by O.B. Keeler, and I did hole a number of other pretty good putts, but I do not believe any of them would have equaled the width of a subdivision lot..."

9/2/65		"I am sorry I gave you all that trouble about those six outlandish putts. I really did not think it was that important…."

1/17/66		Bobby sets the record straight regarding his father's golf ability. He writes "One thing, though -- I shudder to think of the artistic profanity with which my father would respond to your calling him a duffer. Dad was a pretty fair player, as were most of my companions, that is, around 80, sometimes a bit below. Believe it or not, the Old Man once won the East Lake club championship and on another occasion he lost to me in the final. Bobby also states his uncertainty about the quality an value of the book they had just finished. He writes "I do not want to put out a dud, as I am sure neither do you."

1/24/66		"Now, please, why is there no such thing as a sand wedge? Please do not tell me that you cannot make a wedge out of sand. That would be carrying purism a bit too far."

5/5/66		Bobby's report of his progress in reviewing the manuscript of the book.

6/3/66		"You may recall the experience we had when we were going over some of my old stuff for your issue of Golf Magazine commemorating the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Grand Slam. Quoting from the paperback Bobby Jones on Golf, you had me advising the player on the downstroke to brush the left leg of his trousers with his right forearm - an impossibility so obvious as to be laughable; yet the words were there in the magazine..."

2/16/66		Bobby writes of his dilemma in regards to the beginning and end of his book. "…I continue to be undecided whether to put the material in Chapter XV at the end of the book, or as an introduction, or Chapter I immediately following your foreword."

3/10/66		Copy: To Ferris Mack. Request for changes to the book manuscript.

2/27/67		"The book seems to have gotten some fairly good reviews (except for Alistair Cooke's, which was excellent); but most of them seem to be merely quotations from your foreword or the publisher's blurb. I suppose this is to be expected."

3/6/67		Bobby writes about the ownership of the copyrights to his film strips produced by Vitagraph. Bobby also encloses reviews he has received from the book. He concludes with "'See you in Augusta." 2 pages.

3/20/67		Bobby alerts Charley about Cox Broadcasting and Walter Schwimmer wanting to produce a one hour documentary on Bobby's life. 2 pages.

8/1/67		Bobby stresses his desire to not have Charley involved in any selling of the "program". He states, "Indeed, I believe that the only thing either one of us could accomplish in the selling would be to mess up the whole thing. So let's try to use what talents we possess in a direction more familiar to us."

8/29/67		"I have reviewed the list of persons you suggested for possible interview. All are acceptable except Chick Evans. I do not want Chick to be connected with the program in any way." cc: Charles A. Pratt, Cox Broadcasting Corporation

8/29/67		Bobby gives his thoughts on how he should be presented in the book. He writes, "I have no intention of being handicapped by modesty, false or otherwise. Indeed, I had thought a title that might be impressive would be 'Golf's Emperor Jones' or 'The Emperor Jones'". He adds, "I especially do not like the phase occurring more than once, 'beating the pros at their own game'. Actually, we were all playing the same game, and if I played less than they did, that should have been the concern of no one but me...". He adds, "I doubt very much that anyone who knew Harry Vardon as I did would classify Harry as intellectual.", and on another matter he writes, "...the Augusta National Golf Club was conceived by Cliff Roberts and me together, and was not, in the beginning, intended to be the site of any sort of tournament...the main idea was to bring to inland Georgia the closest possible approximation to British seaside golf...generally speaking, it was an effort to get away from the small green, well watered, which had reduced American golf to target practice." His final thoughts in the letter were, "Particularly, let us remember that when we are playing an open championship, the pro and amateurs are on the same footing. If the latter are at a disadvantage, let them stay home." 3 pages.

9/8/67		"In looking over the listing you sent to Mr. Pratt of newreel footages available, I am stuck by two omissions. (1) A very good sequence of me playing a short pitch to the green after having over-played the ninth hole of the fourth round at Interlachen in the Open Championship of 1930. (2) A sequence from behind the green showing the full length of a forty foot putt I holed on the last hole in this tournament to clinch the championship. ..."

9/12/67		Bobby stresses his feelings on the modern "Grand Slam:. He writes, "I think if you can win both the British and U.S. Opens in one year, this should be enough."

7/29/69		"I am grateful for your letter and all the compliments you pay me, although I fear you exaggerate my virtues considerably. Anyway, I am pleased that you are happily situated at Hilton Head -- I have heard so many extravagant praises of this place from the numerous friends I have who visit there. It sort of makes my mouth water."