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Tending to the homefires Coe-Jones reduces schedule to spend time with family
Just because British Columbia native Dawn Coe-Jones attended college in the United States, joined the LPGA Tour and married an American doesn't mean that she has forgotten her Canadian roots. In fact, Coe-Jones is so proud of her heritage that she wants to make sure her five-year-old son Jimmy knows all about his mother's homeland. It's not surprising to see a hockey game break out in her Tampa, Fla., home -- usually in the kitchen, right between the stove and the refrigerator, where a goalie's net has been set up for more than two years.
Besides being patriotic and possessing a nasty slap shot, Coe-Jones dreams of being an ordinary mom. This is why she is making this, her 18th year on the LPGA Tour, her last as a full-time player. On Aug. 8 Jimmy attended his first day of school; being available to take her son to sports practice or just to explain why girls don't have cooties has become Coe-Jones' No. 1 priority. "I certainly want to be home and be involved in everything with school," Coe-Jones said. "I think that's important, for me more than him. Plus, with public school I don't know how many days he can miss, but he can't keep coming on the road with me." Last week Coe-Jones had to leave Jimmy behind in Florida, but she was able to put a special exclamation point on her career. At Kanata Golf & Country Club in Ottawa, Coe-Jones led the Canadians to their first-ever win in the Nations Cup -- a two-day, Solheim Cup-type event which pit her home country against the U.S. and Sweden. The veteran scored 4 1/2 out of a possible six points to help Canada to a one-point victory over the Americans. And then like a true Canadian, Coe-Jones hoisted the trophy, Stanley Cup-style, over her head and announced, "I might be 40 -- but I'm not washed up." However, Coe-Jones admits that her body is telling her to slow down. She has three career LPGA victories, but the last came in 1995 at the Chrysler Tournament of Champions. This season she has made are respectable $93,716 in 14 events but has only one top-10 finish. While Coe-Jones feels as if she has the skills to be competitive, her lack of desire to keep improving her game is why she has a hard time keeping up with the other Joneses. "Deep down I know I can still compete out here," said Coe-Jones, who has earned $2,703,750 overall, 30th on the career money list. "Before I never practiced and I still don't practice. That makes it harder because the depth of our tour is so strong and the kids who are playing more are grinding, beating balls every day. And it's harder for me, so I'm seeing the light." Coe-Jones says she still enjoys the game, which is part of her hate-to-lose-at-anything nature. The competition and the camaraderie are what she will miss most while she's busy packing Jimmy's lunch; what she won't miss is the airports, rental cars and hotel rooms. While she would still like to play about 10 events in each of the next couple of years, Coe-Jones will have to indulge her competitive nature by playing catch, kicking the soccer ball or shooting hoops with young Jimmy. Even though her husband, also Jimmy, is a former college baseball player and a typical jock, Mom enjoys getting dirty, too. "I'm a tomboy," Coe-Jones said. "I didn't play dolls. I hated dolls and I rather be doing what ever my brother [ Alan ] next to me was doing, and that was baseball, football, hockey, fishing. And that is what I do with Jimmy; we do it all." By tagging along with Alan, who is four years older, Coe-Jones was able to hone her golf skills at an early age. She captured two British Columbia junior championships (1978, '79) and two B.C. amateur championships ('82, '83). She then became one of the first Canadians to venture south of the border to get an education, taking her talents and dry sense of humor to Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. She made the LPGA Tour in 1983 after only one attempt at Q school. While she says she owes it all to a strong junior program, Coe-Jones takes much pride in being a pioneer. "They were very encouraging when we went to college and came out here [to the U.S.]," Coe-Jones said. "It showed some of the kids back home that just because you live north of the border doesn't mean this goal of playing in college and on the LPGA isn't unattainable." Coe-Jones hasn't forgotten how important a solid junior golf program can be to a young player's development. For the last 15 years, she has hosted a tournament for kids in her hometown of Honeymoon Bay. Each year 72 boys and girls compete on the same course -- March Meadows -- she grew up on, taking part in clinics and receiving instruction. Unfortunately, the 2001 event coincided with Jimmy's first day of school. "I really missed not being there this year, but your son only has one first day of kindergarten and I wasn't going to miss that for the world," said Coe-Jones. Surely, the kids at the Dawn Coe-Jones Classic missed seeing her, too -- just as the players and fans of the LPGA will in the years to come. Tom Hanson, a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated's Golf Plus section, is a longtime caddie on the LPGA Tour. Click here to send him a question or comment.
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