"A Difficult Par" - Biography of Robert Trent Jones Sr and the Making of Modern Golf

golf SMARTER

Josh Karp

Golf, Sports, Society & Culture

4.3 • 577 Ratings

🗓️ 19 September 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

GS#436&437 May 13, 2014. Robert Trent Jones Sr. is regarded as the most historically significant golf architect of the 20th century. The fabric of golf in America - possibly the world - is embodied in the extraordinary career of Robert Trent Jones Sr. in golf course design. In this conversation with New York Times bestselling author and internationally distinguished historian James R. Hansen, he shares the compelling life story of the man who designed or redesigned a staggering 400+ courses spread over 43 U.S. states and 27 other nations, including instantly recognizable names as Spyglass Hill in California, and Ballybunion in Ireland. James R. Hansen is a Professor of History at Auburn University in Alabama, a lifelong golfer, and his first book in 2005 "First Man" is the only authorized biography of astronaut Neil Armstrong.This episode is brought to you by BreakfastBalls.Golf. Visit BreakfastBalls.Golf for the best quality and pricing on premium used golf balls. Find your favorite brand at half the price of new balls! Use GOLFSMARTER at checkout for 20% off your order!Check out "Invested in the Game", a new original podcast from Charles Schwab. This podcast is their way of sharing the incredible stories behind the game. Listen now at schwab.com/TheGame or wherever you get your podcasts.This episode is sponsored by Indeed. Please visit indeed.com/GOLFSMARTER and get a $75 SPONSORED JOB CREDIT. Terms and conditions apply. This episode is sponsored by HIMS. Start your free online visit today HIMS.com/golfsmarter and received personalized ED treatment options. This episode is also brought to you by Policygenius. Secure your family’s future with Policygenius. Head to policygenius.com to compare free life insurance quotes from top companies and see how much you could save.For exclusive content and first access check out Corrected Mistakes on Substack: https://substack.com/@correctedmistake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	These two episodes combined into one is the full unedited, hour-long interview with James R. Hansen on his biography called A Difficult Par, Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and the making of modern golf.
0:12.9	It was originally published as Golf Smarter episodes number 436 and 437 from May 13th and 20th, 2014.
0:22.9	Welcome to Golf Smarter Mulligans, your second chance to gain insight and advice from the best instructors featured on the Golf Smarter podcast.
0:34.1	Great golf instruction never gets old. Our interview library features hundreds of hours of game improvement conversations like this that are no longer available in any podcast app.
0:46.5	Maybe the most interesting crediting issue that comes up relates to Augusta National.
0:52.1	In the late 40s, Bobby Jones brought Trent in to do some significant remodeling of some of the holes at Augusta.
0:59.0	Number 16, as we know it, one of the great par threes in the world, was a very different hole before Trent Jones came in and redid it.
1:06.0	The T was right behind the 15th Green. It was a little creek. It wasn't a lake. And the green was on the left of where it is now over that creek. It was a bad hole. Trent and the membership and the people who had been playing the Masters thought that 16 was a weak sister. And Jones comes in and redesigns that hole completely. I mean, it's his hole. He redesigns the 18th green and the mounting around it. He
1:28.1	redesigns the 13th green. He's the one that creates the T on 11 from a dog leg right, 350-yard
1:35.3	hole with a green where that lake isn't there, turns it into a longer 400-yard par four
1:41.4	that really kind of turns to the left and the green gets extended around this lake.
1:46.2	And what's interesting about this is Augusta National never has credited Trent Jones for the work
1:50.7	because they don't want to take any attention away from McKenzie or Bobby Jones.
1:58.6	A difficult par biography of Robert Trent Jones, Sr.
2:02.1	And the Making of Modern Golf.
2:03.4	This is Golf Smarter.
2:06.3	Welcome to the Golf Smarter podcast, Jim.
2:09.4	Thank you very much, Fred.
2:10.5	It's a pleasure to be with you on this podcast.
2:12.6	Thank you.
2:14.0	I got a book in the mail from your publisher with your name on it, and I love the title of it,
2:21.6	especially when I was reading what it meant. So why don't we just start with that? The book is
	...

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