Featured Golf Course

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The Bobby Jones Golf Club is located in the City of Sarasota in Sarasota County. Sarasota is known as “The cradle of American Golf” thanks to the contributions of Scottish-born Colonel John Hamilton Gillespie.  In 1886, Gillespie arrived in Sarasota and built a practice course consisting of two greens and one long fairway between what is now Main Street and Ringling Boulevard. That course is one of the oldest recorded golf courses in the nation. By 1888 the number of golf holes increased to four and a practice range was added to the mix. By 1901 the 4 hole course increased to nine holes and a clubhouse, and by 1906 a full 18-hole course was in operation. A year after Gillespie’s death in 1923, the golf course was sold and developed.

The Sarasota City Commission adopted an ordinance in 1925 for the issuance of City bonds in the amount of $150,000.  The ordinance was intended to acquire 290 acres of land for park purposes, and improvements to that land for a municipal golf course. Renowned golf course architect Donald Ross was hired to design the 18-hole layout and in 1926, the Sarasota Municipal Golf Course was officially opened. In 1927, the City renamed the municipal course the Bobby Jones Golf Club. A crowd of over 1,000 gathered to watch Bobby Jones personally dedicate the course and play in an exhibition game where he went on to shoot a 73.

Nine holes were added in 1952 and another nine in 1967.  The original Donald Ross course was split in half, with nine holes contributing to the North 18-hole layout and nine holes contributing to the South 18-hole layout. The resulting North eighteen holes were designated the American Course and the South eighteen designated the British Course.  

In 1930, Bobby Jones accomplished one of the most amazing feats in sports history, the Grand Slam of Golf. In honor of these championships the American Course honors Jones' championships in the U.S. Amateur at Merion and the U.S. Open at Interlachen. The British Course front nine is named for his British Amateur victory at St. Andrews and the back nine for his British Open success at Hoylake. Jones is the only golfer to have won all of these major championships in the same year.

In 1977, a 9-hole, executive course named in honor of Col. John Hamilton Gillespie, was designed by Lane Marshall and added to the Bobby Jones Golf Club.

Colonel Gillespie in Sarasota c1905

Donald Ross plan of Sarasota Municipal Golf Course 1925

Bobby Jones Cutting Ribbon at Dedication 1927

Bobby Jones at Golf Course Dedication 1927

Bobby Jones Golf Course Newspaper Ad 1929

Babe Ruth playing the Bobby Jones Golf Course

Historic Aerial of the Bobby Jones Golf Course