Dawn Coe-Jones (October 19, 1960 – November 12, 2016) was a Canadian
professional golfer
A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...
who played on the
LPGA Tour, and a member of the
Canadian Golf Hall of Fame. She was the first female Canadian golfer to surpass $1million in career earnings, announcing the arrival of Canadian female golfers upon the world stage in the 1990s.
Early years
Coe-Jones was born in
Campbell River, British Columbia
Campbell River, or Wiwek̓a̱m, is a city in British Columbia on the east coast of Vancouver Island at the south end of Discovery Passage, which lies along the 50th parallel north along the important Inside Passage shipping route. Campbell River ...
. Growing up in Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island, she worked as a teenager at March Meadows Golf Course in
Honeymoon Bay.
She had an outstanding amateur career, scoring back-to-back wins in the B.C. Junior tournament in 1978 and 1979 and the B.C. Amateur in 1982 and 1983. She capped her 1983 season with the
Canadian Women's Amateur The Canadian Women's Amateur is Canada's annual national amateur golf tournament for women. It is open to women from all countries and is played at a different course each year.
History
The first championship was held from October 14 to 17, 1901 at ...
title and won NCAA all-American honours at
Lamar University. She won a scholarship in her sophomore year and graduated in 1983 with a degree in elementary education.
[
]
Professional career
Her first LPGA win came at the Women's Kemper Open The Women's Kemper Open was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1979 to 1992. It was played at several different courses in California and Hawaii.
Tournament locations
Winners
*1992 Dawn Coe
*1991 Deb Richard
*1990 Beth Daniel
*1989 Betsy Ki ...
in 1992. Coe-Jones was accompanied by caddie and childhood friend Kelly Feltrin, who was on her bag when she won the Kemper. She went on to claim the 1994 LPGA Palm Beach Classic and 1995 Tournament of Champions. Her best score ever was 63 at the Safeco Classic in 1998.[ In 1993, she became the first female golfer to sink an albatross in a women's major.
Coe-Jones played on the LPGA Tour from 1984 to 2008, winning three tournaments, and over $3 million in career earnings. She competed in over 20 ]Canadian Women's Open
The CP Women's Open (french: Open féminin du Canada) is a women's professional golf tournament managed by Golf Canada. It has been Canada's national championship tournament since its founding in 1973, and is an official event on the LPGA Tour. ...
s. Her best chance to win her national open was in 1993, when she was third behind Brandie Burton and Betsy King at London Hunt. She tied for fourth with Canadian Gail Graham
Gail Anderson Graham (born January 16, 1964) is a Canadian professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour.
Graham won twice on the LPGA Tour in 1995 and 1997.
Graham won the LPGA Tour's William and Mousie Powell Award (later renamed the Found ...
in 1998 in Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...
.[
Coe-Jones made her farewell appearance at the CN Canadian Open in 2008, finishing 14-over after two rounds and missing the cut.
]
Personal
She competed under her maiden name, Dawn Coe, until her marriage to Jimmy Jones in November 1992. She moved to Tampa from Texas in 1992 to be near the man she would marry that year, Jimmy Jones, and friends from the tour. Their son James was born three years later.[
Coe-Jones' favourite hockey team growing up was the ]Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
, but after living in Florida for many years she adopted the Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...
. She was present for their 2004 Stanley Cup victory.[
]
Death
She died of chondrosarcoma, a form of bone cancer at a hospice on November 12, 2016, near her home in Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
, aged 56.
She is survived by her husband, Jimmy, son, Jimmy, in-laws Sandy and General James Jones, and brothers Mark and John Coe. Her son is a college golfer at the University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...
and winner of the 2015 Florida State Amateur.
Legacy
The inaugural Dawn Coe-Jones Golf Classic was held in October 2016 to raise funds for Sarcoma research in her name.
Honours
Coe-Jones was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2003, and the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame
The BC Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in BC Place Stadium, at Gate A, the main entrance to the stadium, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It collects, preserves, studies and interprets materials that relate to British Columbia's spo ...
in 2013.
Amateur wins (5)
*1978 British Columbia Junior
*1979 British Columbia Junior
*1982 British Columbia Amateur
*1983 British Columbia Amateur, Canadian Women's Amateur The Canadian Women's Amateur is Canada's annual national amateur golf tournament for women. It is open to women from all countries and is played at a different course each year.
History
The first championship was held from October 14 to 17, 1901 at ...
Professional wins (4)
LPGA Tour wins (3)
LPGA Tour playoff record (0–1)
Other wins (1)
*1992 Pizza-La LPGA Matchplay Championship
Team appearances
Professional
* World Cup (representing Canada): 2005
* Handa Cup (representing World team): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 (tie), 2014
See also
;1990s wave of Canadian female golfers on the LPGA Tour
* Jennifer Wyatt
Jennifer Noel Wyatt (born December 10, 1965) is a Canadian professional golfer who formerly toured on the LPGA Tour.
Wyatt was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and starting playing golf at an early age in Richmond, British Columbia out of thQu ...
* Gail Graham
Gail Anderson Graham (born January 16, 1964) is a Canadian professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour.
Graham won twice on the LPGA Tour in 1995 and 1997.
Graham won the LPGA Tour's William and Mousie Powell Award (later renamed the Found ...
* Lisa Walters
Lisa Walters (born January 9, 1960) is a Canadian professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. She competed under her maiden name Lisa Young until 1988.
Young was born in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. she won several amateur tournaments ...
* Tina Tombs
* Lorie Kane
References
External links
*
*
Dawn Coe-Jones
at the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coe-Jones, Dawn
Canadian female golfers
Lamar Lady Cardinals golfers
LPGA Tour golfers
Golfing people from British Columbia
Golfers from Tampa, Florida
Canadian expatriates in the United States
Deaths from bone cancer
Deaths from cancer in Florida
1960 births
2016 deaths