Evening star., 1931-12-03
VARIED ESTIMATES
PUT ON FILM COIN
$500, 900 Seems to Be Mini
munh-Income SWeIIed by
Replica Sticks.
- oBERT TYRE JONES, jr.,

H. lanta whom golf made ia
nous and who retaliated in
kind by stepping up the game of
golf from the inside pages to the
front page, is making himself a
comfortable fortune through the
game that made him a world fig
ure. AS his friend, S. C. Watkins,
says, Bobby entered the game of
money making in golf by taking
unto himself blue ctip-the blue
chip being the $250,000 or so
which he is supposed to have
made from his series of golf in
struction motion pictures.
The real amount of money which
Bobby has extracted from his movie
contracts has never been accurately
stated, but the smallest estimates place
it at 5000 600 and the more eXtTava-
CANT claims shove II up as high as
5 $500, ,000--the latter figure put forward
by some Jones admirers on the basis
of Bobby getting a cut of the gross re-
ceipts from the showing of his films.
Probably a quarter of a million is
closer TO the actual amount, which is
enough TO rate blue ship in any game.
ON THE golf market today is a set
" Of clubs. made by one of the most
prominent golf equipment manu-
facturers, bearing the full seal and ap-
proval Of the former world champion,
designed by him after the clubs with
which he won some l3 or IA major
tournaments, and put out in time to
es5ch the holiday trade. If we know
snything about golf and golfers (Which
ny sometimes doubtfuD there will be
flock of people rushing to the busy
marts Of trade to buy these clubs in
steel and wooden shafts, simply to
have in the bags replicas of the clubs
that won so many tournaments for
Bobby Jones. OF course. they are Just
good golf clubs, even though they do
bear the Jones name and have several
new ideas incorporated in them, but
the name itself will sell them and
probably countless buffers will get
new thrill and improve their game by
playing the clubs bearing the magic
name of the former emperor" With
the set comes a replica Of Calamity
Jane" the putter made famous by
Jones, in the making of which meticu-
lous care has been taken to carefully
reproduce the wrappings on the wooden
shaft which came about on the original
when Bobby missed short putt.
THIS game of golf of ours is a queer
A. sport-all mixed up with mob
psychology ard methods and
trends Of thought. Remember a year
back when the manufacturers put out
deep-faced wooden clubs for the new
large ball. They told us the new ball
would be skied from the old shallow
faced clubs and we golfers went and
bought them by the millions Of dol
lars worth. Now we are to have
heavier ball of the same size. VIII
we have to change our clubs again,
under the guise of sales promotion?
OF course, the new Jones clubs have
nothing TO do with that. Bobby would
not permit his name to go on propa-
ganda scheme. He Is too fine q gen.
tleman and too fine a sportsman for
that. But do you suppose that Bobby
is lending his name and designing
clubs for the mere glory of having the
Jones name on a set of golf clubs? 1t
isn't likely
With that blue chip, represented by
the movie money and the blue chips
to come because of the prominence of
the Jones name in golf, it won't be
long before Bobby is a millionaire. And
he is deserving of it, If any man ever
was. He gave plenty to the game of
golf. He did much to make the game
the high-claSs sport it is today He
always has stood for the finest in
ethics and sportsmanship and now
he is in position to make himself
independently wealthy for life, more
power to him. 1t is being done and
If Bobby does 1t, he should be above
criticism. Only a year has elapsed
since the day last Fall when Bobby
Jones announced his retirement from
competitive golf He has stuck to that
decision and IN that short time he
has done quite notable bit toward
independence for the Jones family of
Atlanta. Always a clean sportsman,
Bobby plays his cards as they lay.
A LONG with him on the road to
n comfortable living has gone his
boy friend and mentor-none
other than o. B. Keeler Lots Of folks
have been unkind enough TO say that
this Nation is founded on ballyhoo-the
build-up, publicity and that sort Of
thing the inference being that with
out the publicity most of our sport
figures would be like little boys playing
in the woods. They could never say
that of Bobby Jones. Golf is a game
of demonstrated skill and nothing else.
The guy who doesn't do his stuff gets
licked and that is all there is to it.
But Bobby and Keeler made the finest
combination we ever have heard of by
way Of winning and then telling the
world about it. In the wake of Bobby's
success the young man himself is by
way Of becoming wealthy and Keeler, as
writing folks sometimes do, has made
himself a comfortable fortune writing
about and around Jones. Keeler's latest
effort is called The Boys Life of
Bobby Jones" and it is we'll worth read
ing A simply told story of the strug-
giles Of those early years with Jones,
the yarn, written with the unassuming
spirit Of Keeler tells the story of how
Bobby started at golf as a spindling
youngster Of 5 years and worked his
way gradually through the various
strata of golfers until he stood on the
topmost crest, the world emperor"
The story is well worth reading, for
youngsters and grown-ups alike. 1t
abounds In characteristic touches and
human incidents with the true Keeler
fair and all in all is an entertaining
bit Of reading. The book actually lis
complement to Bobby's own book,
Down the Fairway," which carried his
golhng life up to about three years ago
The latest book carries the jones career
down through the final winning year of
1880 and beyond.