What Golf Clubs Did Bobby Jones Use?

Best known as the only golfer to win all four Major Championships, the (pre Masters) "Grand Slam", in the same calendar year, Bobby Jones is one of the game’s greatest ever players. The American may have retired from playing competitive golf at just 28 years of age, but he left a lasting legacy, winning the US Open four times and the Open Championship thrice.

The man from Atlanta claimed his first Major Championship, the 1920 US Open, at the age of just 18. Ten years later he completed the “impregnable quadrilateral”. What made his achievements all the more impressive was that he continued to study whilst he competed, and he earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech. He later converted to law and passed the Georgia bar exam in 1926.

In all, Jones won 34 tournaments in what was a short playing career. As well as his 13 Major Championships, he claimed six Amateur titles - five US Amateur Championships and one Amateur Championship.

It was only in 1930 that the great man turned professional, and he did so in order to make money from instruction and through co-developing the first set of matched steel-shafted irons. Perhaps his greatest legacy, however, was that together with his friend Clifford Roberts, he established Augusta National Golf Club and The Masters Tournament.

Even now, over a hundred years after Jones won his first Major title, watching grainy, old clips of Robert Tyre Jones Jr. hitting a golf ball is a sight to behold. It’s hard not to imagine how that swing of his would have performed in the modern game. With today’s clubs, we suspect he’d have done Ok.

Back in the 1920s, of course, Jones and his peers played with wooden shafts, and they didn’t have the luxury of large sweetspots and forgiving clubheads. Still, by the age of 14, Jones could drive the ball a healthy 250 yards.

Bobby Jones What's In The Bag?

In Jones’ era, golf clubs were not numbered - they had nicknames instead. His driver was named "Jeanie Deans", and the rest of his clubs had various names and nicknames, a combination of "niblicks" and "mashies".

Jones’ driver was made by one of the most talented clubmakers of his generation, Jack White, the British Open champion of 1904. The man from East Lothian, Scotland, put together the wooden-header driver that Jones used during 10 of his 13 Major Championship victories. The hickory-shafted "Jeanie Deans" was a reliable performer, and if you fancy putting one in the bag, you can pick one up from Louisville Golf for approximately $360.

The rest of the clubs Jones used were made at St Andrews by one of the esteemed club makers of the era, Tom Stewart. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Jones’ remarkable "Grand Slam" of 1930, Tom Stewart Co. of St Andrews produced the 14 hickory clubs that he used - just 1,930 registered sets. As you can probably imagine, they’ve become quite a collector’s item.

Jones’ putter, which was made in Scotland before 1900, was nicknamed "Calamity Jane", and he used it for most of his wins. He had two versions of the putter, one of which is on display at Augusta National and the other at the USGA headquarters. What a sight that must be...