Who is Jeff Knox?

Golfing Herald welcomes back guest author Graeme Fish. Following on from his previous articles How to play a Par 3 and Kingarrock Hickory Golf, PGA Fellow Professional Graeme poses the rather intriguing golfing trivia question …

Who is Jeff Knox?

Hope you enjoy …

Golfing Volunteer

When you look at the golfing calendar each year, the most excitement comes during the 4 major championships. It all kicks off with The Masters from the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, USA.

The tournament is run by the officials, members and volunteers. Some of these volunteers will never have or experience fame. Except that is for Jeff Knox …

Jeff Knox

But who the heck is Jeff Knox? Well, Jeff (Jefferson) Knox was born in Thomson, Georgia and is a member of Augusta National Golf Club and has been for many years. He and his family live in Augusta, just minutes away from the Augusta National Golf Club.

He is a volunteer during The Masters, and starting in 2002 his job title was ‘Official Non-Competing Marker’ … and this made him the most famous, yet unknown, golfer in the world!

Unique Role

The ‘Official Non-Competing Marker’ may not even get to do his job unless there is an odd number of competitors following the halfway cut, which is now the top 50 players and ties. If that were the case, then Jeff played the course, during the third and final rounds of the tournament, and act as the Official Non-Competing Marker to that (odd) golfer.

Amazing Facts

Jeff holds the official course record at Augusta National from the members’ tees, with an incredible score of 61, which he achieved in 2003. As for The Masters …

• In 2006, it was reported that Sergio Garcia refused to shake his hand after Knox beat Sergio’s score.
• During the 2014 Masters, he marked for Rory McIlroy in the third round, shooting a score of 70 to Rory’s 71. The following day, he returned a lower score than ex-Masters champion Larry Mize.
• In 2018, he was the only player in the entire field during the third round to birdie Hole #11 ‘White Dogwood’.
• Many others have had the pleasure of playing with Jeff including Paul Casey, Craig Stadler, Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, Steve Stricker, Keegan Bradley, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Eddie Pepperell and Jason Day.
• His caddie is the only caddie to have a white boiler suit with no name on the back of it.

Reading the Greens

Most Tour Professionals have said that Jeff is not long off the tee, but that he has a great touch around the greens. Indeed, Tiger Woods has approached Jeff on several occasions to ask for his advice about the breaks on the greens at Augusta … and Rory McIlroy says that Jeff reads the Augusta greens better than anyone he’s ever seen.

Retirement

Jeff Knox was inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame with the Class of 2017 … and just before the 2022 Masters, he was informed that he wouldn’t be called upon if needed. It is believed that Michael McDermott, who is also a member of Augusta National, now has the best volunteering role in the golfing world!

To Finish

Did you know all about Jeff Knox before reading this guest article? Do you know of any other golfers who have had an opportunity such as this to play with the greats of the game? It would be great to hear from you …

Acknowledgement

Many thanks to Graeme Fish for an enjoyable and very informative guest article. If you wish to read about Graeme’s (30+ years) professional career, experience and services then please visit … graemefish.com

Attributions

For the photographs of the 12th and 16th holes at Augusta National used to augment this article, attributions are as follows …

• Golden Bell (Hole #12) ~ Photographer Matt, ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).
• Redbud (Hole #16) ~ Photographer Oliver Gunning, ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).