The Yankees trained in St. Petersburg during Babe Ruth's 1925-34 seasons and, in 1935, Ruth trained in St. Pete as a member of the Boston Braves.
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| Pictured: Babe Ruth in front of the Jungle Country Club. |
In newspapers, magazines, books, and other media there are many references to Babe Ruth's love of golf.
Many pictures and rare films of Babe Ruth playing golf, celebrating his birthday, and signing a contract have already been posted on this blog. To get in shape, he played two rounds of golf a day on the Jungle course ‒ rain or shine ‒ weeks before spring training began. He was also known to play the Jungle course after a day of baseball practice. Conservatively, that sounds like a minimum of twenty rounds of golf in a single season and well over 100 rounds during his lifetime. In 1931, Babe Ruth arrived in St. Petersburg with his family on February 10 and planned to play two rounds of golf each day until spring training practice began on March 1 ‒ that's 36 rounds of golf in one year. Although he played many golf courses, including those in St. Petersburg and near his home in New York, the Jungle course was undoubtedly one of his favorites.
Babe Ruth was one of the most popular golfers of the Roaring Twenties. The Jungle Country Club became one of the country's most renowned golf courses because of his presence. Anyone who read a newspaper or went to the movies knew about the Jungle Country Club.
BABE RUTH SHOULD BE IN THE GOLF HALL OF FAME
According to an article in Golf Magazine, Babe Ruth should be in the World Golf Hall of Fame. He was the most famous golfer of the 1920's and 30's. Pictures of Babe Ruth golfing on St. Petersburg's Jungle course were published in newspapers across the country, doing more to popularize the new sport than any of the professional golfers of the day.
Babe Ruth, the most famous golfer in the 1920's and 30's played many rounds of golf on the Jungle course and the greatest celebrity of the era enjoyed much of his leisure time in the Jungle neighborhood in St. Petersburg.
An excellent Babe Ruth biography can be found at
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Various articles, photographs and excerpts of Babe Ruth in the Jungle....
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| 1929 birthday party and two rounds of golf at the Jungle Country Club. St. Petersburg Times, February 9, 1929 |
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| 1926 birthday party after a round of golf at the Jungle Country Club, St. Petersburg Times, February 9, 1926 |
The next time-honored step in the Ruth ritual was the trip to Florida and his birthday party. His friends set up a huge square table in the patio of the Jungle Country Club Hotel, arranged to resemble a baseball diamond with flowers for baselines and bases. A mammoth birthday cake, in the shape of a baseball, occupied the center. Twenty-eight guests sat around the table, with the Ruths in the place of honor at "home plate."
[Yankees owner Colonel Jacob] Ruppert came down a few days later and, following a long tradition, sat with the Babe at a table on the sunny lawn of the Jungle Club with dozens of reporters and photographers gathered around for the contract signing.
His idea of losing weight in spring training was by playing 36 holes every day - rain or shine.
A good looking rookie outfielder joined the squad in the spring of 1929. He was well set up, good wrists, good arms. One afternoon, after practice, we asked the youngster if he'd like to join us in a round of golf. The kid's eyes lit up. He turned out to be quite a discovery; shot 69 his first time around at the Jungle Country Club.
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We didn't mention his score to the Babe, but we admitted he was pretty good and rigged things so that Ruth was nudged into challenging him. The kid was a rank busher, and as a busher had practically no money to toss around in betting, so we surreptitiously got up a pool to back him. Babe thought it was going to be a walkover.
The rookie gave Ruth a lesson in advanced golf, even outdrove the slugger, which saddened the Bambino no end. Babe finished eight down. Since then, the kid has beaten many other golfers besides Babe; just a few years ago he carried Byron Nelson to extra holes in the Professional Golfers' Association at Dayton, Ohio. His name is Sammy Byrd.
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| New York Times February 1929 |
[St. Albans Golf Course] may have reminded [Babe Ruth] of Tillinghast's ... Jungle Club. Before and during spring training in the mid-1920's, Ruth spent weeks there, several times - according to legend - driving a ball 360 yards on the 388-yard fourth hole.
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| Reading Times, February 10, 1931 |
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| The News Journal Feb 5, 1929 |
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| St. Petersburg Times, February 5, 1929 |
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| Jungle Country Club Southpaw Trophy won by Babe Ruth - February 1929 (National Baseball Hall of Fame Digital Collection) |
from The First Yankees Dynasty: Babe Ruth, Miller Huggins and the Bronx Bombers By Gary A. Sarnoff
Ruth received his most enthusiastic greeting at the train depot since the Yanks had been training in St. Petersburg. Two hours later, he was on the links at the Jungle Club. The several spectators watching cheered as if he had hit a home run after he clubbed his first drive for 365 yards. He had a great front nine with a score of thirty-eight, but his game fell apart on the back nine, and he finished with a disappointing score of ninety-two.
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Two clippings from the St. Petersburg Times February 7, 1931. Ruth and his family plan to stay at the Jungle Hotel and he will golf 36 holes a day from February 10th until the end of the month (that's over 30 rounds of golf):
Two clippings from the St. Petersburg Times February 7, 1931. Ruth and his family plan to stay at the Jungle Hotel and he will golf 36 holes a day from February 10th until the end of the month (that's over 30 rounds of golf):
