Will Ye No Come Back Again

“I never learned anything from a match I won.” – Bobby Jones

On his first trip to St. Andrews, Scotland to play in the 1921 Open Championship, Bobby Jones got so frustrated that he failed to complete the 11th hole in the third round and tore up his scorecard, thereby disqualifying himself. Although he eventually finished the round and played the fourth round that afternoon, none of his scores counted.

After the tournament was over, the hot-headed Jones was quick to talk about his disdain for The Old Course, a hallowed venue designed by Old Tom Morris and forever known as the birthplace of golf. Jones was roasted in the local press, which reported that "Master Bobby is just a boy, and an ordinary boy at that."

Bobby Jones was just 19 when he left St. Andrews that year with his tail between his legs. However, by the time he returned six years later for the 1927 Open Championship, he had matured into a well-rounded man. Not only that, but Jones was the defending champion, having roared back from two strokes down after 54 holes to defeat fellow American Al Watrous at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

This time, a far more patient Jones established a four-stroke lead after 54 holes and cruised to a six-stroke victory over Aubrey Boomer of Jersey and Fred Robson of Wales. Bobby Jones had learned his lesson – not from winning, but from losing – and in embarrassing fashion, no less. To demonstrate that he was a changed man, Jones asked that his winning trophy remain in the possession of his new friends at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews, a gesture so humble that it won the hearts of everyone in town.

Jones also developed a new-found love for The Old Course, where he claimed the 1930 British Amateur with a spectacular double-eagle on the fourth hole from a fairway bunker. That win catapulted Jones on his way to the Grand Slam that year and cemented his lifelong love affair with the town of St. Andrews and the revered Old Course.

In 1958, Jones was invited to return to St. Andrews where he was named a Freeman of the City, an honorary title previously awarded to only one other American, Benjamin Franklin in 1759. As the now crippled Jones was leaving Younger Hall, the site of the ceremony, the overflow crowd spontaneously serenaded him to the tune of “Will Ye No Come Back Again”. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

“Listen to counsel and accept discipline, that you may be wise the rest of your days.” Proverbs 19:20 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President