Brooke Henderson only met Dawn Coe-Jones once before, but she, like most of the golf world – especially in her native Canada – was saddened to hear of the passing of the three-time winner on the LPGA Tour late Saturday from dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma, an aggressive form of bone cancer.
She was 56.
“Unfortunately, I only met her once,” said Henderson Tuesday at the CME Group Tour Championship. “It was my first LPGA Tour event as 14-year-old at the Canadian Open. She pulled up because she was doing some commentary that week, and she watched me hit a shot. It was pretty cool to see her reaction.”
“I know she was definitely a Canadian hero, and had a very solid career on the LPGA Tour,” continued Henderson.
Fellow Canadian Alena Sharp will be wearing a sticker with the initials ‘DCJ’ on her hat all week long at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, in honor of her friend.
“She was always there to lend support or advice, and always had quick one-liners. She enjoyed being out here and enjoyed life,” said Sharp, who had been inscribing Coe-Jones’ initials on her golf ball since the CP Canadian Women’s Open, as she knew she wasn’t doing well. “It’s just so sad she passed away so soon.”
Coe-Jones was the first Canadian LPGA Tour member to pass the $1-million in earnings mark, winning the 1992 Women’s Kemper Open, the 1994 HealthSouth Palm Beach Classic, and the 1995 Chrysler-Plymouth Tournament of Champions.
She nearly won twice in 1992, losing in a playoff later in the year at the Oldsmobile LPGA Classic.
Born in Campbell River, British Columbia, Coe-Jones spent most of her adult life in Tampa, Florida, but never lost her Canadian connection. She was in the stands during the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Stanley Cup run in 2004.
As an amateur, Coe-Jones won back-to-back B.C. Junior titles in 1978 and 79, and the B.C. Amateur in 1982 and 83. She won the Canadian Women’s Amateur in 1983, and also notched NCAA all-American honours at Lamar University that same year.
She was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2003, and the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame ten years later.
Golf Canada said Sunday morning that Coe-Jones died in hospice near her home in Tampa.
In a statement, Golf Canada CEO Scott Simmons said the entire golf community was ‘deeply saddened’ by the passing of Coe-Jones.
“Dawn was a tenacious competitor, a mentor and friend to so many of her peers and a proud ambassador for Canadian golf throughout her distinguished career,” he said. “As we mourn her passing and send our most sincere condolences to family and friends, the golf and sport community come together in celebrating her outstanding legacy.”
Gail Graham, a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour, was Coe-Jones’ long-time best friend. They attended Lamar University together, and grew up playing on the LPGA Tour at the same time during the mid-1990s.
She said she attended the Texas school mostly because of Coe-Jones’ presence. The fact that there was another Canadian was a big deal for Graham, who, like Coe-Jones, was from a small town in B.C.
“Right from the very start, she became a good friend and a mentor to me,” said Graham by phone Tuesday. “She was always looking out for everyone else. She was a good team player that way, and when I got out on Tour a few years later she took me under her wing. She was really good at that.”
Graham tells a story of how, in classic Coe-Jones fashion, she would always smile and thank each fan and volunteer for supporting the LPGA Tour. One year, she befriended an older gentleman who was in the gallery at an event, and had just lost his wife a few months before. It was their thing, to attend this particular tournament, and he wanted to keep that memory alive.
Fast forward a few years later when Coe-Jones and her husband got married, and there was that same elder gentleman, at their wedding as a ‘treasured guest.’
“It started with a smile, and a ‘hello’. It was that huge smile, flashing those gigantic blue eyes,” explained Graham, with a smile of her own, remembering her friend.
Tributes also came pouring in via social media on Sunday from all corners of the golf world.
“Just hearing of the incredibility sad news of the passing of LPGA member & Canadian legend Dawn Coe-Jones. Always a class act. RIP, my friend,” said 17-time LPGA Tour winner Dottie Pepper.
Added Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam: “So sad to hear of the passing of (Dawn Coe-Jones). A true competitor, ambassador of the game. She will be missed #RIP.”
The group of Canadians is small on the LPGA Tour, especially as compared to the other countries, and Sharp said Coe-Jones did a lot for Canadian golf and golfers.
“She was a role model for Lorie Kane, who then played well and obviously had a great career. And now Brooke is playing so well. It’s nice to honour her, and she is so inspiring to us,” explained Sharp. “The one thing I regret is that she loved drinking wine, and having a glass with her friends, and that’s one thing I didn’t get to do with her. I just won’t ever forget her.”
Graham knows how much Coe-Jones loved life more than almost anyone else.
“Countless times we would get laughing, and we’d start crying we were laughing so much. She was so fun to be around, and so positive,” she said. “She was the same with everyone. It didn’t matter if you were a scared junior coming up for an autograph, a middle-age volunteer, or a multimillionaire playing in the Pro-Am. She treated everyone the exact same. She appreciated everything she had, and she just enjoyed people.”
Coe-Jones is survived by her husband James Jones, and son Jimmy Jones, who is a golfer himself at the University of South Florida.
Note: Over the last 12 years, a charity tournament has been hosted in Tampa, called the Amandalee Golf Classic and this year, it was re-named the Dawn Coe-Jones Golf Classic. It raises funds for sarcoma research, as Amandalee Weiss’ oncologist, Dr. Letson – who the tournament was originally named for – was also Coe-Jones’ oncologist. Given the rarity of the disease, there is a big effort to raise as much money as possible to benefit the Amandalee Fund at the Moffitt Cancer Centre in Tampa. If you are interested in donating to the ‘DCJ Challenge’ for Sarcoma Research, you can visit the GoFundMe page here: https://www.gofundme.com/dcj-campaign-2v6u6vd4
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