Today in golf history: Jones completes Grand Slam

September 27, 2012 | by United States Golf Association

- USGA photo

On September 27, 1930, Bob Jones completed the "Grand Slam" with his victory at the U.S. Amateur at Merion

On September 27, 1930, Bob Jones completed the greatest year in the history of golf with his victory at the U.S. Amateur at Merion Cricket Club’s East Course in Ardmore, Pa., defeating Eugene Homans of Englewood, N.J., 8 and 7, in the 36-hole championship match.

The victory gave the 28-year-old from Atlanta, Ga., the “Grand Slam.” He had won the U.S. and British Opens, and the U.S. and British Amateur titles, a feat that had never been achieved and was thought to be unachievable. A crowd of 18,000 came out to watch the final and witness history. Jones held a 7-up lead over Homans after the morning round and cruised to the historic victory.

It was his ninth USGA title and coincidentally came at the same golf course where Jones made his USGA debut as a 14-year- old at the 1916 U.S. Amateur. Jones retired from competitive golf in November 1930 while still in the prime of his career to devote more time to his family and law practice.

As for Homans, Google searches will bring his name up again and again alongside that of Jones as the player who lost in the final. And to think, he didn't even get the consolation prize that today's U.S. Amateur runner-up leaves with, an invitation to the Masters. That tournament, and Augusta National for that matter, was just a glimmer in Jones' eye in 1930.

Legendary golf writer Herbert Warren Wind, in a 1955 Sports Illustrated story about the silver anniversary of Jones' feat, described Homans' daunting task this way:

"If there ever was an assignment in golf, or in sports in general, that no one relished filling, it was to be the other finalist in the 1930 Amateur, the one person standing between Jones and the completion of the Grand Slam. This was the lot that fell to Eugene V. Homans, a gaunt, bespectacled Princeton graduate with the solemn air of a deacon about him even when he was outfitted in plus fours and bright argyle socks. Gene Homans was a very capable golfer and, furthermore, a match player with plenty of fight. For instance, he had pulled out his semifinal round after standing 5 down. Against Jones, try as he did, Homans could never get going, maybe because, despite his efforts to win, he could never escape the discomfiture of the role in which circumstance had cast him."

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