University calls off Bobby Jones event

The dedication of a historical marker honouring golf legend Bobby Jones has been cancelled because Augusta State University officials complained they were left out of the ceremony, which was to be held on school property.

The marker was to be dedicated April 7 outside an abandoned clubhouse at Forest Hills golf course, which Augusta State owns. Jones won a regional tournament at Forest Hills in 1930 -- four years before the Masters began at nearby Augusta National -- and went on to win golf's Grand Slam that year.

Augusta State asked that the ceremony be called off because the school wasn't asked to participate. The college's president, Bill Bloodworth, also said he believes the ceremony would have been lost amid the hoopla over the Masters, which begins April 8.

"Masters Week, in my mind, isn't a good week to do this kind of thing," he said Monday. "It could be a great opportunity if we do it at the right time, and when the right people are there, when it would get some attention."

More than 200 guests had been invited to the ceremony.

"It's a shocking embarrassment to have to call people and tell them it's off," said Ross Snellings, an organiser of the marker dedication.

The $1,500 Jones marker, approved in January by the Georgia Historical Society, was funded by local preservation groups.

TRW