Club Times - September 2021

professional Jimmy Maiden. Because Jones was too young to play on the actual course, he and Frank Meador built their own two-hole course alongside the East Lake property and played it all summer.

Jones learned the game by watching Stewart Maiden on the course. In his autobiography he explained: “Stewart never gave me a lesson in golf, though he has spent many hours, most of them profane, coaching me when I was in a slump with one club or another. I picked up my game watching him play, unconsciously as a monkey, and as imitatively.” During their second summer at East Lake, the Jones family rented a building, fondly known as the mule house, on the AAC’s property, which had been renovated as a summer home. Though Jones confessed to have liked baseball better than golf at the outset, he played in his first unofficial tournament, a six-hole match at East Lake. Alexa Stirling, who became Georgia’s first national amateur player, shot a lower score, but they gave Jones the three-inch cup that is still on display at the club.

The Mule House

The Sargent Fami ly The Sargent family served the AAC with distinction for fifty-three years. After Stewart Maiden left the AAC, a succession of golf professionals, including Willie Ogg, Frank Ball, Billy Wilson, and Charlie Gray followed, but none left the kind of indelible imprint that the Sargents did. George Sargent became the professional at East Lake in 1932. Born in Epsom Downs, England,

he learned to play golf early and immigrated to the United States as an established player and professional. He won the 1909 U.S. Open, setting a record for the lowest score, and did the same in the 1912 Canadian Open. His U.S. Open medal is on display at the entrance to the AAC’s golf shop, appropriately named in honor of the Sargent family. George served as president of the PGA of America from 1920 to 1926. While working at Chevy Chase Golf Club, he gave lessons to President Taft. From there, he moved to Interlachen and then Scioto. Two years after Bobby Jones won the Grand Slam, he came to East Lake and remained there until his retirement in 1947. Harold Sargent, an assistant at the club, followed his father as club professional at the AAC upon George’s retirement. Harold served the golfing community as president of the PGA of America from 1958 to 1960 and was instrumental in bringing the 15th Biennial Ryder Cup Matches to East Lake in 1963. He moved with the club when it elected to go north in the 1960s. In 1979, his brother, Jack, became the professional at the new facility and served until 1985, just as the AAC was building its reputation for the new courses as a championship venue. The Sargent’s legacy continues. Rick Anderson, the past director of golf, trained under the Sargents and was one of the first golf professionals in Georgia to earn the Master Professional designation. As a result of his efforts, his golf shop is listed regularly among the top 20 in the nation. Rick retired in March of 2021 and Bud Taylor is the current Director of Golf.