Rowland Jones (golfer)

Rowland Thomas Jones (1871 – 2 February 1952) was an English professional golfer who played in the late 19th and early 20th century. Jones had two top-10 finishes in the Open Championship. His best performance came in the 1905 Open Championship when he finished tied for second place.[1]

Rowland Jones
Personal information
Full nameRowland Thomas Jones
Born1871
St Helens, Isle of Wight, England
Died2 February 1952(1952-02-02) (aged 80–81)
St Helens, Isle of Wight, England
Nationality England
Career
Turned professionalc. 1890
Professional wins1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipT2: 1905

Early life

Jones was born in St Helens, Isle of Wight, England, in 1871, the son of James Jones and Maria Saunders.[2]

Golfing career

Jones won the Tooting Bec Cup in 1908 having been a runner-up in 1901. He was runner-up in the London Professional Foursomes Tournament in 1907, where he partnered Alfred Toogood, and was a losing semi-finalist in the 1905 and 1906 News of the World Match Play. He won the Belgian Open in 1920 and, as late as 1924, he was runner-up in the Roehampton Invitation Tournament where he lost by 1 hole to Ted Ray.

Jones was professional at Wimbledon Park Golf Club for 37 years from the opening of the club in 1898 until his retirement in 1935.[3] He had earlier been at Littlehampton Golf Club since at least 1893.

1905 Open Championship

The 1905 Open Championship was held 7–9 June at the Old Course at St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. Scottish champion golfer James Braid won the Championship for the second time, by five strokes from runners-up Jones and the legendary J.H. Taylor.

All entries played 18 holes on the first two days with all those within 14 strokes of the leader making the cut and playing 36 holes on the final day. Strong winds and baked hardpan conditions made scoring exceptionally difficult on all three days. Only a few players managed to break 80. Sandy Herd, Taylor and Harry Vardon led after the first round with scores of 80. Scoring was marginally better on the second day with Jones's 77 giving him the lead on 158. He was followed by Braid on 159 and James Kinnell and Arnaud Massy on 161. Just 45 players made the cut of 172 and only one amateur, John Graham, Jr., was among those select few.[1]

Braid had round-by-round scoring of 81-78-78-81=318 and won £50. Jones's rounds of 81-77-87-78=323 enabled him to go home with £20. The third round 87 was detrimental to his opportunity to win.

Death

Jones died at St Helens, Isle of Wight, on 2 February 1952.[4]

Tournament wins (1)
Note: This list may be incomplete.

Results in major championships
A group photo of the 1903 England golf team. Standing on the far right is Rowland Jones.
Tournament 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
The Open Championship WD 29 T33
Tournament 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
The Open Championship 11 T12 T25† T27 T2 5 WD T24 T26
Tournament 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
The Open Championship T38 T16 T27 NT NT NT NT NT
Tournament 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928
The Open Championship T39 60 T22 CUT CUT

Note: Jones only played in The Open Championship.

  Top 10
  Did not play

NT = No tournament
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

† In 1903 Jones was disqualified after the first day for incorrectly placing his ball on one of the holes. He was then reinstated and completed the final two rounds.[5][6]

Team appearances
  • England–Scotland Professional Match (representing England): 1903, 1904 (tie), 1905 (tie), 1906 (winners) 1907 (winners), 1909 (winners), 1910 (winners), 1912 (tie), 1913 (winners)
  • Coronation Match (representing the Professionals): 1911 (winners)

References
  1. Brenner, Morgan G. (2009). The Majors of Golf: Complete Results of the Open, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and the Masters, 1860–2008. 1. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-3360-5.
  2. "Rowland Jones". familysearch.org. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  3. "Rowland Jones to retire". The Times. 21 September 1935. p. 5.
  4. "Rowland Jones". probatesearch.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  5. "The Open Golf Championship - The first two rounds". The Times. 11 June 1903. p. 11.
  6. "The Open Golf Championship - Victory of Harry Vardon". The Times. 12 June 1903. p. 11.
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