 robert trent jones, sr. (june 20, 1906 &ndash; june 14, 2000) was a golf course architect who designed (or re-designed) about 500 golf courses in at least 40 u.s. states and 35 other countries all around the world. it has been jokingly said that, "the sun never sets on a robert trent jones golf course." he is sometimes confused with the famous amateur golfer and grand slam winner, bobby jones, with whom he worked from time to time. ==biography== born in ince-in-makerfield, england, robert trent jones accompanied his parents to the united states at the age of five. the family settled in east rochester, new york where young robert took a job becoming the first golf professional at sodus bay heights golf club which is located in the sodus point, ny area. he became an avid and skilled golfer as a youth, but health problems prevented him from joining tournament competition. jones attended cornell university, where he designed his own course of study to become a professional golf course designer, taking courses in landscape architecture, agronomy, horticulture, hydraulics, surveying, public speaking, and economics. during his studies at cornell, he designed the back nine of cornell's robert trent jones golf course. the course was not used until 1941. jones later returned in 1954 to complete the front nine. at cornell, he was a member of delta kappa epsilon fraternity.  after receiving his college degree, jones formed a partnership with canadian architect stanley thompson, and helped design several courses in canada, including capilano in vancouver and banff in the canadian rockies. in the late 1930s he struck out on his own and began designing and building local golf courses in america. many of these, such as the 1936 course at green lakes state park (see photo), were built using labor provided by the works progress administration.{{cite book |last=cornish |first=geoffrey s. |author-link=geoffrey cornish |last2=whitten |first2=ronald e. |year=1993 |title=the architects of golf |publisher=harper-collins |isbn=0-06-270082-0 |chapter=robert trent jones (1906 - 2000) |url=http://bigred2.athletics.cornell.edu/golf/jones.html |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070813110903/http://bigred2.athletics.cornell.edu/golf/j
1906_births 2000_deaths Cornell_University_alumni Golf_course_architects People_from_Ince-in-Makerfield World_Golf_Hall_of_Fame_inductees