Two Atlanta icons shared special friendship centered around golf

At 91, longtime Atlanta columnist Furman Bisher is still active around the keyboard.

ATLANTA -- When Furman Bisher became editor of the Atlanta Constitution in 1950, one of the first things he did was schedule a meeting with Bobby Jones.

Bisher knew the importance of getting to know the city's biggest movers and shakers and Jones was high on that list. So they arranged to meet at Jones' downtown law offices, thus beginning a relationship that continued until the golfer's death in 1971.

Bisher is now 91 and still writes columns for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution during the Masters and other special events. He doesn't recall exactly what transpired during his first meeting with Jones, only that he was treated graciously by the world's greatest golfer. Bisher can still remember the vision of Jones walking toward him, using a pair of canes to help him get around.

The memories of Jones are being mined this week because of the anniversary of the Grand Slam, which was completed 80 years ago today. That's when Jones finished off a sweep of the four major golf championships at the time -- the U.S. Open, the U.S. Amateur, the British Open and the British Amateur. All four trophies were on display on the first tee earlier this week at The TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, which is being played at East Lake Golf Club, the place where Jones honed his game.

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Bobby Jones' trophies from his Grand Slam adorned the first tee at East Lake earlier this week.

Over the years, Bisher wrote many articles for the newspaper and for other publications about Jones. "He was always kind and generous with his time," the veteran journalist said.

Unlike today's athletes who swear they don't read articles about themselves, though, Jones did take note of what was written about him -- and let his opinion be known. Bisher still has many letters from Jones, "sometimes they'd be complimentary and sometimes he was not so pleased." But, Bisher said, "He was always kind in his criticism."

Jones was also protective of the image and reputation he had worked years to establish. Once Bisher was asked to write a story for the Saturday Evening Post, which was then one of the most-read publications in the country. They wanted Bisher to write the story, which would carry the tag "By Bobby Jones, as told to Furman Bisher." Bisher was very excited and approached Jones with the idea.

"He always had this long cigarette holder and he took it out of his mouth and said, 'Furman, anything that bears my name, I write.'" Bisher said. "And I understood."

Bisher would see Jones at the Masters each spring. Many of his colleagues wanted to meet Jones, who co-designed Augusta National and founded the Masters. So Bisher would bring visiting writers to Jones' cabin (now known as the Eisenhower Cabin), knock on the door and invariably be graciously invited in to meet the legendary man.

Bisher gradually saw less and less of Jones, though, and they had little correspondence in the final years of his life. After Jones was confined to a wheelchair, Bisher asked him about his illness. Jones explained the progression of the disease, called syringomyelia, in which a cyst forms on the spinal cord, causing pain, stiffness and sometimes, paralysis. Their conversation led Bisher to ask if there was any cure.

"Oh, yes," Jones replied. "Death."

Bisher, who played a fair game of golf in his day, never had a chance to play with Jones, who had stopped playing by the time they met. But he has a copy of the book "Golf is My Game," that Jones personally gave to him, along with many letters and countless memories.

And while Bisher has met every athlete, owner and potentate of importance during his career, he has a special place for Jones.

"I don't know if I've ever met a man who depicts what I would consider the spirit of an athlete should be more than Jones," Bisher said.