The tournament is being held in honor of the 100th anniversary of the historic Wells College Golf Course. Special guest Rees Jones will be present to speak about Ione and Robert Sr.’s time at Wells and the impact they had on the golf course.
In 1923, on area farmland, a six-hole golf course was installed atop the Wells College campus on Route 90 Main Street in the Village of Aurora. Wells College President, Kerr Duncan Macmillan, (president from 1913-1935) purchased the Aurora Country Club in 1923, bringing golf to Wells College.
By 1929, the course had been upgraded to a nine-hole installation. In the 1960s, encouraged by his wife and partner of 30-plus years, Wells alumna Ione Davis Jones ’31 and renowned golf architect Robert Trent Jones, Sr. redesigned several of the holes. Now, the Wells College campus is home to a meticulously maintained nine-hole golf facility overlooking Cayuga Lake.
Rees Jones grew up aware of his mother’s commitment to Wells College and her years of service as a Trustee. Following in his father’s footsteps, Rees became a well-respected golf course architect, designing many championship courses and inheriting the moniker “The Open Doctor.”
