Rees Jones

Golf Course Designer

By Joan Zandell

Rees Jones, the foremost golf course architect in America, divides his time between his home in Montclair, New Jersey, which was his mother’s hometown, and a house on Buell Lane in East Hampton; a home he purchased while designing The Atlantic Golf Course.

“Growing up in Montclair was idyllic after WWII,” said Mr. Jones in a telephone interview from his East Hampton home. “In those days, everyone was on an equal footing. Life was not as complicated and we were not exposed to as much. We belonged to a club on Lake Valhalla where we’d go swimming, boating, fishing and of course we’d play golf. I was active in sports as a young man, and I liked to play baseball as well. I won the State Championship for golf in 1957 and as a result, this fall I will be inducted into the New Jersey High School Hall of Fame. After graduating from high school, I went to Yale and then The Harvard School of Design, but I also learned a great deal from my father, Robert Trent Jones and his associate Bill Baldwin. My father put a face to the profession, he created awareness.”

Rees Jones met his wife skiing in Vermont. “I had a ski house up there,” he said, “and we started dating, slowly and then one day she asked me to go to a wedding at Pinehurst, and I couldn’t say no, so I went and we played golf and then after the wedding I proposed.” He and his wife Susan have been married for 38 years. “We have a great marriage because we look forward to seeing one another. It’s important to understanding how the other person thinks. We’re a very close family.” Rees and Susan have two daughters, Amy and Alden. Amy is married and lives in Ossining, NY with her husband and their new eight-month-old baby, Taya. “I’m definitely into the Grandfather thing,” said Jones.

Alden Jones, who is still looking for the love of her life, is a travel writer who is presently teaching at Emerson College in Massachusetts. “The house in East Hampton,” Jones said, “has been instrumental in keeping us close as a family; it’s where we all like to get together. Although my daughters did not work with me the way I and my brother worked with my father, I would take them along with me when they were little, and as a result they are both serious about golf.”

Montauk Downs was originally built for the Israel Discount Bank, for Mort Hyman and Mort Allen. “But the clubhouse burned down,” said Mr. Jones, “and as a result was sold to the State for a very low amount. I was there every week with my father’s firm, I was the project designer. The greatest thrill,” he continued, and I could hear him smile, “is going back to a course I cut my teeth on, and refurbishing it with all the knowledge that I’ve accrued.

“Bernadette Castro is a good friend. I also did Bethpage in 2002 and will do it again in 2009. What makes a golf course great is great land, wonderful views, natural rolls. Long Island has the ideal topography for golf as a result of the glacier. Technology has impacted the game by making the game more achievable. Custom made clubs now have the ability to self-correct. It’s better for the game itself. At Montauk Downs I am rebunkering the course, refurbishing the remaining bunkers, flattening the tee boxes, and bringing in better sand. The course will benefit from that.

Rees Jones also has a talented brother, golf course designer Robert Trent “Bobby” Jones. They each went out on their own 32 years ago. His brother, who attended Yale as well, and then went on to Stanford University, became Vice President of Robert Jones Inc. and later assumed control of west coast operations. “We live on opposite coasts. I do more in the States, while my brother does more around the world.

“The Downs is a public golf course, perhaps the best in the nation. I plan to maintain its stature, and make it more fun. Although the course is not long enough to qualify for The Open, it will qualify for more New York State events after it is finished.

“I recently refurbished The Atlantic Golf Course. You need to upgrade because the game changes. The wedges, the drivers are better. The shafts are made of graphite so your swing speed can be faster and the ball can go farther. The balls are designed to go farther. I’ve had to lengthen bunkers farther out — they have no value if they are shorter. Bunkers make you play a strategy and they direct you. Shot options and strategy are what keep the golfers challenged.” Mr. Jones continued, “Where you hit the previous shot determines your next shot and that is what makes it interesting.”

Despite the fact that Rees Jones is presently designing between five and six new courses as well as renovating four previous designs, he plays golf an average of 50 -60 times a year. “I don’t know if I’m a good player,” he says modestly, when asked about his game he replies, “I play OK.”

When Jones works, he does so with four other designers and a construction crew. “You don’t learn how until you get into the field and learn from the people who have done it before.” Mr. Jones firm designs both public and private courses. The design challenge in the refurbishing of The Montauk Downs is that it accommodates all types of golfers, at all levels, from beginners to advanced. “I designed Bethpage Black,” said Mr. Jones, “and there, as only one course out of four, found it extremely demanding. That course is the only course where Tiger Woods won with a single digit under par. But here, [The Downs] you have to put everything in one course.”

A true fan of the East End, Mr. Jones feels that “the East End has the best combination of courses; Montauk, The Atlantic, The Bridge, Shinnecock Hills and National Golf Links. This is a golf Mecca,” he says, “the land is so spectacular and it is the place where architects have put their hearts and souls into their designs. The Bridge has such spectacular views! It’s an escape from the travails of life. You go out there and you forget your troubles. All I can say is, the people who play Montauk are very lucky.”

Amen. And have a good game.