Grier Jones

{{Short description|American professional golfer and coach (born 1946)}}

{{Infobox golfer

| name = Grier Jones

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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1946|5|6}}

| birth_place = Wichita, Kansas, U.S.

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| height = {{height|ft=5|in=10}}

| weight = {{convert|165|lb|kg st|abbr=on}}

| nationality = {{USA}}

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| college = Oklahoma State University

| yearpro = 1968

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| extour = PGA Tour

| prowins = 4

| pgawins = 3

| otherwins = 1

| majorwins =

| masters = T33: 1972

| usopen = T18: 1975

| open = DNP

| pga = T16: 1978

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Grier Jones (born May 6, 1946) is a former college head golf coach and former PGA Tour professional golfer.

Early years

Jones was born, raised and has been a lifelong resident of Wichita, Kansas. He attended Wichita's Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School where he played both football and golf. He won the 1963 and 1964 Kansas State High School golf championships. An All-American at Oklahoma State University, Jones won the Big Eight Championship in 1967 and 1968 before taking the individual medalist honors at the 1968 NCAA Championships. He also won the 1966 Kansas State Amateur Championship held in Topeka, Kansas while a student at Oklahoma State.{{cite web | title=Bio from Wichita State University Athletic Department | url=http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=61308&SPID=2846&DB_OEM_ID=7500&ATCLID=640298&Q_SEASON=2007 | access-date=2007-09-19 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520151514/http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=61308&SPID=2846&DB_OEM_ID=7500&ATCLID=640298&Q_SEASON=2007 | archive-date=2011-05-20 | url-status=dead }}

Professional playing career

Jones spent 14 years on the PGA Tour, beginning in 1969, when he earned PGA Rookie of the Year honors. His career year was 1972 when he won two PGA Tour events and finished fourth on the final money list.{{cite web | title=Bio from Kansas Golf Hall of Fame | url=http://www.kansasgolf.org/foundation/1996-hof/}} He won his third and final PGA Tour event in 1977. Jones ended his career with 54 top-10 finishes in PGA Tour events. His best finish in a major championship was a T-16 at the 1978 PGA Championship.

Post-playing career

After his full-time tour playing days ended, Jones took a club teaching job at Willowbend Golf Club in Wichita, while continuing to play part-time on the Nationwide (then called the NIKE Tour) and PGA Tours. Later he became the head pro at Terradyne Country Club in Wichita. In 1995, he was named men's head golf coach at Wichita State University, where he remained until his retirement in 2019. He was named Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 1998, 2000, 2003, and 2006.