This 1934 Babe Ruth scorecard was found in a scrapbook kept by John Buchanan, a golf professional at the Jungle Country Club. The scrapbook was preserved by Buchanan’s family and later discovered by his daughter-in-law, Carol Buchanan, who came across my history blog online. After some correspondence, she generously offered to send the scorecard along with several period newspaper clippings that had been saved with it.
In 1934, Buchanan was the golf pro at the Jungle Country Club in St. Petersburg, a course that would close a decade later, in 1944, before being redeveloped into Azaleaville residential neighborhood, now known as the Azalea neighborhood.
The foursome recorded on the scorecard included Babe Ruth, Buchanan, Iowa amateur Blaine Asher, and Bill Bond, Sr. Bill’s identity remained a mystery until his son later reached out to share that Ruth regularly played golf with his father. Bond, Sr. was even interviewed for an HBO documentary, where he recounted how Ruth once appeared at St. Petersburg High School alongside the school’s principal, stepped into Bill’s classroom, and invited him to skip class and play a round of golf.
Buchanan was playing with Ruth on the day Ruth scored a rare double eagle on the Jungle course’s 17th hole. Ruth later described the experience as “one of the greatest thrills in his entire sports career.” The scorecard in my possession is not from that day.
Bill Bond, Sr tells about the day Babe Ruth came to his St. Petersburg High School classroom and pulled him out of school to play golf. (You might have to click "play" twice to get the clip to play.)
