Robert Trent Jones Jr.

Robert Trent Jones Jr., often called Bobby within the family, was born at Montclair, New Jersey, on 24 July 1939. He learned golf at Winged Foot from Tommy Armour, whose stories stimulated an interest in the history and folklore of the game. At Yale he studied geology, history and American Studies while playing varsity golf. After a year of law school at Stanford, he joined his father’s practice. His apprenticeship included Spyglass Hill and projects throughout the West. He became vice-president, ran western operations and helped expand the firm into Asia through Navatanee in Thailand. In 1972 he founded Robert Trent Jones II in Palo Alto. Independence allowed him to develop a language distinct from his father’s, more attentive to narrative, landscape and the maxim “listen to the land.” Spanish Bay, Princeville Makai, CordeValle, Joondalup, Moscow Country Club, Hogs Head and Chambers Bay are among his important works. Chambers Bay, created from a former sand and gravel quarry beside Puget Sound, hosted the 2015 U.S. Open. It demonstrated how industrial ground could be transformed into links-inspired golf. Contributions from Bruce Charlton, Jay Blasi and other project architects should be recognised. Jones Jr. was among the first prominent American designers to advocate explicitly for environmental sensitivity and restoration of damaged landscapes. His courses often use broad playing areas, multiple angles and strong relationships to views. His language is more poetic than his father’s championship school, although projects also serve international economic and tourism objectives. A former ASGCA president, he received its Donald Ross Award in 2024 and has advocated copyright protection for golf architecture. As a living architect he remains active through his firm. His legacy connects the Jones name with a more sensitive reading of nature and a particularly significant expansion into the Pacific and Asia.