Bobby set up his firm in Palo Alto, California and Rees stayed in Montclair, New Jersey. ASGCA members Roger Rulewich, Cabell Robinson, Bill Boswell and John Harveywere part of the RTJ worldwide design team as well. Jones’ two sons, Bobby and Rees, followed their father’s footsteps as course architects and both served as ASGCA Presidents. In 1976, Jones was presented with the first ever ASGCA Distinguished Service Award, (which in 1977 was renamed the Donald Ross Award) for his outstanding contributions to the game of golf. He served as ASGCA President from 1950-1951, and an ASGCA member for 53 years. Jones would be one of the 14 ASGCA founding members. He also stayed in the spotlight by building high-profile courses that would host major golf events and received national television exposure. Due to his ability to position and brand himself, Jones was at the forefront of many newspaper and magazine articles, which helped cement his architectural presence. He was responsible for the start of architects becoming international, established “signature” courses, and developed a form of “branding” that had not been used in the golf design industry. Jones’ enthusiasm, energy, and innovative talents allowed him to become one of the top architects of his era. One of Jones’ greatest and largest golf design projects would be considered his grand finale, The Alabama Golf Trail. He designed over 400 golf courses in 43 states and 23 countries, not including his remodeling work. By the mid-1960’s, he had become one of the most influential golf architects in the world. Due to the Depression, the partnership dissolved and Jones decided to practice golf course architecture on his own. In 1930, Jones teamed up with Stanley Thompson the firm had offices in Toronto and New York. Jones also attended Cornell University, using his education to prepare himself for a career in golf course architecture. Jones began his impressive golf resume early by becoming an excellent amateur golfer, who had the opportunity to compete in the Canadian Open. Previously, everything we recruited was out of this country, and now you have companies within the United States looking at Alabama in a different light than they would have 20-25 years ago.Robert Trent Jones, a leader in the founding of ASGCA, started his golf journey when moving to the United States from England in 1911. You not only allow them to be financially secure, but it trickles down to the next generation of kids who will now be able to go to college. The Trail started with 378 holes at eight sites throughout the state, but has grown to 468 holes at eleven sites. “More impressive is how something like that can fundamentally change a family. The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is a collection of championship caliber golf courses, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr., distributed across the state of Alabama, as part of investments by the Retirement Systems of Alabama. Those dollars flow into those communities. What that has done is affect the north to the central to the south of the state with tourism. “Now it’s an annual $13 billion industry. “When we started out, this program was a $1.8 billion industry a year,” Bronner said. That’s just what Bronner like to hear, especially since 25 years or so ago many were questioning his vision. So, golf and the RTJ Trail, were likely key players in those economic development coups.īack to Nordsom, the golf-loving engineer and his impressions of the trail. Capitol Hill opened its gates just after dawn, for the weeks the recruitment effort took, to allow the team and Hyundai big shots to get in a little golf before heading to Montgomery and resuming negotiations. But what is known is the team working to bring Hyundai to Montgomery stayed in Prattville. Nobody knows what role the trail played in landing Honda, Air France or Hyundai in Alabama. But, if we created something in the state of Alabama that the rest of the United States doesn’t have, that being the trail, could we get tourism and industry to look at us and come to us that wouldn’t otherwise?
You bring a new factory in and you’ve changed a town. “The natives would say ‘Well, Alabama has great potential, but it never does anything.’ So, we thought about how you change an entire state. “Back 20 to 25 years ago, there was a funny feeling around Alabama,” said Bronner.
#Robert trent jones golf course locations series
Bronner chose Robert Trent Jones Sr., the famed golf course architect, and his company to design the series of courses. It opened in 1992 with seven facilities, the brainchild of David Bronner, chief operating officer of the Retirement Systems of Alabama. The trail encompasses 468 holes on 26 courses at 11 sites scattered throughout Alabama. The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, which started as a gamble, is celebrating its silver anniversary. And, oh yeah, golf may be a good way to recruit economic development clients. In short, give folks traveling through Alabama a reason to stop and stay awhile.
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