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 The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

, and a member of the

Canadian Golf Hall of Fame The Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum and hall of fame covering the history of the game of golf in Canada, and celebrating the careers and accomplishments of the most significant contributors to the game in that country. Operated by ...

. 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 Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the fall of 2021, th ...

. 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 Brandie Burton (born January 8, 1972) is an American professional golfer. In October 2019 her induction into the Southern California Golf Association Hall of Fame was announced, noting that she competed in five Solheim Cups, recorded 88 top 10 f ...

and

Betsy King :''Betsy King was also a childhood name for Lizzie Lloyd King.'' Betsy King (born August 13, 1955) is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won six major championships and 34 LPGA Tour victories in al ...

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 Chondrosarcoma is a bone sarcoma, a primary cancer composed of cells derived from transformed cells that produce cartilage. A chondrosarcoma is a member of a category of tumors of bone and soft tissue known as sarcomas. About 30% of bone sarcomas ...

, a form of

bone cancer A bone tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body such as from lung, breast, thyro ...

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

in 2003, and the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

Amateur wins (5)

*1978 British Columbia Junior *1979 British Columbia Junior *1982 British Columbia Amateur *1983 British Columbia Amateur,

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 A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

(representing Canada): 2005 *

Handa Cup The Handa Cup is a series of senior women's golf matches between a United States team and a World Team drawn from players from the rest of the world. It was founded in 2006 and is an event on the LPGA Legends Tour. Since 2013 it has been officially ...

(representing World team): 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 (tie), 2014

References

External links

* *
Dawn Coe-Jones
at the

{{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