Dawn Coe-Jones, who was raised in Lake Cowichan and became one of the greatest golfers in Canadian history, has died of bone cancer at age 56 in Tampa, Florida.
“It is a huge loss. Dawn never forgot her Island roots, especially regarding March Meadows, where she started out,” said Norm Jackson, head pro at the Cowichan Golf Club.
“She was a great ambassador for the game in Canada and was truly a pioneer.”
Coe-Jones, who was born Oct. 19, 1960, in Campbell River, began playing golf at age 12 at the nine-hole March Meadows course in Honeymoon Bay.
“We had a nine-hole tournament,” she told the Times Colonist in 1993.
“I played and they gave me this brand new ball. It was a Flyrite Campbell No. 3, and I don’t think they make them anymore. ‘Wow,’ I thought, it was the neatest thing.
“Right then and there I was hooked.”
Coe-Jones first came to regional and national attention by winning the B.C. junior championship in 1978, B.C. amateur championship in 1982 and 1983, and the Canadian amateur at the Victoria Club in 1983. She became a U.S. collegiate NCAA All-American player at Lamar University and joined the LPGA Pro Tour in October 1983, where she played until 2008, earning more than $3.3 million US.
Coe-Jones said the best advice was delivered to her by veteran golfer Amy Alcott when the two were paired in just the second LPGA tournament of Coe-Jones’s career.
“I was in awe and simply scared to death,” she recalled.
“[Alcott] saw how nervous I was and said, ‘Don’t worry about it, kid. The sun will come out tomorrow.’ And that’s it, plain and simple. Don’t worry about what happens in a game of golf. Tomorrow is a new day and the sun will come out.”
Little did Coe-Jones know she was on her way to becoming the first female Canadian golfer to breach the $1-million plateau in career earnings.
Coe-Jones won three pro tournaments — Kemper Open in 1992, LPGA Palm Beach Classic in 1994 and Tournament of Champions in 1995 — and placed in the Top 10 on 44 occasions.
She was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2003, the B.C. Golf Hall of Fame in 2011 and the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.
Often caddying for Coe-Jones in tournaments was best friend Kelly Feltrin, whose parents, Jim and Carol Peterson, owned March Meadows golf club until 2012. The pair met when they were eight.
Coe-Jones never forgot her beginnings at the club, where she would help out by cutting grass, picking stones, raking sand traps by hand and digging ditches.
“Doing things like that gave me an appreciation of a golf course and a respect for the time and care that goes into maintaining it,” she told the Times Colonist in 1995.
Coe-Jones was based in Florida during her pro career, but returned to the Island each summer. Until recently, she hosted an annual junior golf tournament at March Meadows, about 30 minutes west of Duncan.
Feltrin said her friend remained humble despite her success.
“It was so noticeable how respectful she was to all the volunteers and all of her peers and followers when she played on the Ladies Professional Golf Association,” she said. “She represented Canada with integrity.”
Coe-Jones was a private person, Feltrin said, especially when it came to her illness. She received a diagnosis of dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma and in spring required full knee and partial tibia replacement surgery.
“She fought hard — and I’m telling you, hard — and always with dignity and always caring about everyone else,” Feltrin said.
Some of Canada’s greatest golfers reacted to the Islander’s death on Saturday.
“Very saddened to hear of the passing of Dawn Coe-Jones,” PGA golfer David Hearn said on social media.
“She was a great player and role model for so many Canadians. You will be missed, Dawn.”
Veteran pro golfer Mike Weir said: “Sad to hear the news of Dawn Coe-Jones passing away. Great player and competitor and wonderful lady!”
Coe-Jones married Jimmy Jones Sr. in 1992 and gave birth to their son, Jimmy Jr., three years later. After her retirement from pro golf in 2008, she was able to better focus on her son.
“Her priority was to be with her son and he’s really going to miss his mom because she was a big force behind him and his success,” Feltrin said. “He’s following in his mom’s footsteps.”
Jimmy Jr., who turned 21 in October, is a business major at the University of South Florida, where he golfs for the Bulls, she said.
Maybe Coe-Jones’s only regret was not being able to win the Canadian Open.
“I played in 24 of them — only missed one when I was pregnant — and you put so much pressure on yourself to win the golf tournament,” she told the Times Colonist in 2012.
“But in reality, it’s always a tough field, and just because you’re Canadian doesn’t guarantee you’re going to win the tournament. You just have to embrace the tournament and enjoy it.”
— With a file from Cindy E. Harnett
