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Three Typed Letters Signed from Bobby Jones, each signed "Bob Jones." Each addressed to Mr. Jim Murray of The Los Angeles Times. Each on Robert Tyre Jones, Jr. Atlanta, GA stationery, and each includes the original mailed envelope. The contents of the letters are as follows:

• 2 pp. letter dated January 29, 1969. Jones writes this confidential letter to Murray to contest the recent article published by Murray about Charles Sifford. He contests the point "in which you quoted Charlie Sifford as saying that I had written him telling him to stop threatening me...[I] have written him on only one occasion, he must have been referring to a letter I sent to him on July 18th of last year." Jones enclosed a photocopy of said letter (included here) so that "you may judge for yourself the accuracy of Sifford's statements." He ends the letter with "It seems completely obvious to me that we cannot invite any golfer simply because he is black. This year, however, Sifford has made a very good start by winning the Los Angeles Open. It is, therefore, entirely likely that he could qualify under our regulation 14. This, however, will be entirely up to him."
• 2 pp. letter dated February 28, 1969. Jones writes this letter in response to Murray's response to the Jan 29th letter (above). Jones begins by thanking Murray for "the compliment you pay to me in the first paragraph of your letter. Honorable disagreement is by no means a bar to friendship." He continues: "But to go on to your letter, you take issue with my statement that we cannot invite a man simply because he is black. You indicate in some way we should make up to Charlie all the years you say golf has barred him." He speaks on the leniency given to foreign players, and still maintains for black U.S. players, "...it would be unfair to include a man for any reason other than his competitive accomplishments." He continues: "I am enclosing an advance copy of our press release for Sunday, March 9th. You will be disappointed to see that the former Masters Champions nominated Bob Murphy, although you will note that Sifford got at least one vote." He touches on the nominations by the PGA, which uses "some sort of point system," of which Jones cannot provide further detail, but he does know that "...the latest bulletin from the PGA indicated that Sifford ranked 16th in this contest, and another black man, Lee Elder, 14th. These men are fighting hard for one of these places. I am sure you would not suggest that we give one of these places, or a new one, to Sifford if he should not earn it."
• 1 pp. letter dated March 4, 1969. Jones writes Murray to provide an update as to Charlie Sifford's PGA ranking. Sifford was in ninth place (instead of 16th as stated in Jones' letter). "I must admit that I was a bit puzzled myself that he should have had such a low ranking, having won the Los Angeles Open. For your further interest, at the time of this PGA bulletin, Sifford was thirty-two points out of sixth place." And one of the rules at the time, allowed the top 6 professionals on the PGA Circuit, not otherwise eligible, to play in the next Masters. On the margins of this letter, and on verso, are several notes in ink regarding PGA rankings(?) of various golfers including "Chi Chi, [Rodriguez]" and others. There are some notes in pencil on envelope.

The lot contains supplemental material regarding Lee Elder, the first African American player in the Masters:

• March 10, 1975 edition of Sports Illustrated with Lee Elder on the cover, signed by him in bold blue sharpie. With a certificate of authenticity.
• Autograph Letter Signed from Mr. & Mrs. Lee Elder to Los Angeles Times' Reporter Jim Murray, dated 10/21/68. It is a 1 pp. note thanking Jim for his column on the African American golfer Lee Elder, who was making headlines in the late 1960's and 1970's.
• 1 pp. Autograph Letter Signed from Charles Sifford on his Brecksville, OH letterhead dated March 27 (1970?) addressed to Jim [Murray] thanking  him. He writes: "I appreciate what you have done. If you want to write about this in your column it's perfectly alright with me, as they might think of an excuse not to invite me this year anyway."

Important first-hand material regarding the issue of African American professional golfers, and the barriers they faced playing elite golf. Bobby Jones co-founded Augusta National Golf Club, along with Cliff Roberts (who had been known to utter some racist comments). The pair also co-founded the Masters Tournament held at Augusta each year. In the 1960s and 1970s, there were still many official and unofficial barriers to black golfers. Charles Sifford (1922-2015) was an African American professional golfer, who played an important role in desegregating the PGA. In 1961, he became the first black athlete to compete on the PGA tour, and in 1967 he won the Greater Hartford Open, the first fully sanctioned PGA event ever won by an African American golfer. Sifford paved the way for African American golfers, most notably Lee Elder. Elder was the first black golfer ever to play at the Masters, teeing off on April 10, 1975. This lot includes the March 10, 1975 edition of Sports Illustrated with Lee Elder on the cover, signed by him in bold blue sharpie. With a certificate of authenticity. In 1972, the Masters instituted a rule that a PGA event champion automatically qualified for the Masters, and in 1974, Lee Elder won the Monsanto Open, winning himself a spot in the Masters. Unfortunately, this rule was instituted after Sifford won his PGA events, and thus Sifford never qualified to play at the Masters, a topic which raised many questions about racism in the tournament. Some of these topics are touched on within this lot of letters from Bobby Jones, in which he specifically talks about Charles Sifford and his omission from Masters play.