Alexa Stirling

A L E X A S T I R L I NG | V I [ ]

a “contained and glowing fury.” At Siwanoy, Jones and Perry Adair faced George Simpson and Alex Cunningham. It was a contest to see who would blow up first. The lot fell to Alex, who missed an 18” putt. He decorated the trees almost a hundred yards away with his putter. It was the “longest throw” Jones ever saw. At Brae Burn, it was Master Jones who turned in his worst performance. By the eighth hole, Jones’ mediocre play was getting the best of him and the blood began to boil beneath the surface. Finally his execution of one particular shot fell short of his expectations. He then wound up like a major league pitcher, and hurled his ball into the woods to the astonishment of Alexa and the large gallery following the match. Alexa’s chin dropped to her chest. Mortified by the impetuous act, Alexa later privately chastised Bob for his shameful conduct. Jones was

unrepentant at first. “I don’t give a damn what anybody thinks about me,” he said, “I only get mad at myself.” But, as he reflected on Alexa’s words of concern, Bob began to appreciate the error of his ways. Maybe he was hurting more than himself. Maybe he was hurting people around him whom he genuinely loved and adored. Folks like Alexa. “I read the pity in Alexa’s soft brown eyes,” Jones appraised years later, “and I finally settled down, but not before I had made a complete fool of myself. That experience had its proper effect. I resolved then that this sort of thing had to stop. It didn’t overnight, but I managed it in the end, at least in tournaments.” For the most part, the press excused Master Bobby’s outbursts. But, he did receive an occasional “spanking” as appeared in a 1918 Boston paper following the match at Brae Burn: Some interesting golf was shown during the match interspersed with some pranks by Jones, which will have to be corrected if this player expects to rank with the best in the country. Although Jones is only a boy, his display of temper when things went wrong did not appeal to the gallery. While Jones was making a questionable impression upon the galleries, on the other hand, Alexa’s polished play caught the eye of a special 14-year-old girl in the gallery named Glenna Collett. If you ever wonder how important role models in sports really can be, this is an important example. Alexa scored a record round of 80. “[Alexa’s] form has been the model for countless women golfers whom she inspired to better games,” Collett wrote years later. “I succumbed to her influence the first time I saw her play. In her youth she was a neighbor of Bobby Jones in Atlanta. When she gave her full attention to golf ... she was almost invincible ... and when her powers were at their crest she went undefeated at match play for more than a few years.” Glenna had never seen such a display of athleticism as that produced by Alexa and Elaine: “Except for the players, I was the busiest person on the links that day,” she told author Rhonda Glenn in “Illustrated History of Women’s Golf.” “I followed eagerly on the footsteps of the girls and had a close-up of every shot played. I gazed in wonder at every kind of shot both girls made, but what impressed me most was their driving and putting. I had never seen any women play golf in the manner they played it.” Glenna shortly sought the tutelage of East Lake’s first professional, Alex Smith, who was twice U.S.Open Champion in 1906 and 1910. Before Glenna was through, she earned six major championships. Golf writers frequently anointed her the “female Bobby Jones.”

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