Robert Tyre (R.T.) Bobby Jones Jr. was the most successful amateur golfer ever to compete on a national and international level. During his peak as a golfer from 1923 to 30 he dominated top-level amateur competition and competed very successfully against the world's best professional golfers. He often beat stars such as Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen who were the era's top pros. Jones earned his living mainly as a lawyer and competed in golf only as an amateur primarily on a part-time basis and chose to retire from competition at age 28. Still he earned significant money from golf after that as both an instructor and equipment designer. This lot includes the 1916 Cherokee Country Club Invitational Tournament Trophy won by Jones when he was just 14 years old. Its the only Bobby Jones tournament trophy ever to be offered publicly.

The nine-inch tall single-handled sterling silver pitcher includes special engraving across the front calling out Jones victory that year when he as a virtual unknown took to the links of Knoxville Tennessee's Cherokee Country Club against of field of 128 qualifying players. The three-day competition was a match-play format and the schoolboy from Atlanta ensured it was a short one claiming the final round after just 14 holes with a five and four victory over runner-up Simpson Dean. Photocopied pages from period newspapers (i.e. The Knoxville Sentinel) covering the tourney - and Jones' subsequent victory - are included. Jones was incorrectly identified in the newspaper article as a 17-year-old when in fact he was just 14 years of age. Fourteen years later he'd claim golf's fabled Grand Slam a feat that remains unequaled in the sport's history. The fact that this is the earliest Bobby Jones trophy ever to enter the collecting hobby would be impressive enough to tempt any serious collector of golf memorabilia but it is not just the earliest its the only one. From two decades of top-level tournament play the presented trophy stands as the sole Jones model residing outside a public institution. The trophy is stamped "Sterling" and "3 1/2 Pints" on the bottom. The historic details are engraved boldly on the side: "Cherokee Country Club Invitation Tournament 1916 Winner Championship Flight R.T. Jones Jr." A few small dings dot the surface to little visual distraction as does a small degree of tarnishing but the thrilling relic approaches its centennial without any significant aesthetic distractions.