Rees Jones (1998)

17 years after his father received the Distinguished Service Award, course architect and designer Rees Jones was recognized himself for his contributions to golf.

Rees followed in his father, Robert Trent Jones, footsteps and has designed iconic courses in the Met Area and beyond. His work is evident at Atlantic Golf Club in Bridgehampton, on Long Island, as well as Ocean Forest in Georgia, and the No. 7 course at Pinehurst. In all, he has worked on more than 100 courses worldwide.

While he earned high praise for his courses, Jones gave more to the game of golf than just fairways and greens. Throughout his career, he helped raise environmental awareness through his guidebook “Golf Course Developments,” which dealt with the environmentally sensitive issues. Rees served on numerous American Society of Golf Course Architects committees and was the president in 1978. He also served on the USGA’s Environmental and Turfgrass Research Committees, the Board of the NJSGA, and was a member of the Urban Land Institute and the Golf Writers Association of America.

With the MGA, Rees served on the Long Range Planning Committee and acted as a lecturer and contributor at Presidents Council Educational forums. He received national attention in 2002, when his meticulous restoration of the Black Course at Bethpage was showcased as the site of that year’s U.S. Open.