Jones began playing golf at age five

Bobby Jones began playing golf at age five and won his first tournament at age six. By age twelve he was winning tournaments against adults. But Jones had a temper. His nickname was “Club Thrower.” An older gentleman called Grandpa Bart, who had retired from golf but worked in the pro shop, recognized Jones’s talent and his character issues.

After Jones made it to the third round of the U.S. Amateur Championship, the older man advised, “Bobby, you are good enough to win that tournament, but you’ll never win until you can control that temper of yours. You miss a shot – you get upset – and then you lose.” Jones did master his temper and won his first U.S. Open when he was twenty-one. Grandpa Bart used to say, “Bobby was fourteen when he mastered the game of golf, but he was twenty-one when he mastered himself.”

Character; Temper; Self-control; Master