Macon tennis guru Jones enters another hall of fame: Georgia Tennis Hall of Fame
By Todd Holcomb
Special to The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
At age 23, Craig Jones was the state’s youngest tennis director at a major club in 1983. In the nearly 40 years since, he has helped develop more than 250 future college tennis players, the most of any Georgia coach outside metro Atlanta in that time, and has been named Georgia Tennis Association’s director, junior coach and professional of the year.
He’s a member of four tennis and sports halls of fame.
The latest induction came Tuesday night when Jones joined Brian Vahaly as the Class of 2020 being put into the Georgia Tennis Hall of Fame. Lee King represented the Class of 2022, and Georgia head coach Manny Diaz was given the “Dan Magill Impact” award.
The ceremony was held at the Twelve Hotel in Atlantic Station, and was part of the Atlanta Open tournament.
Growing up in Macon, Jones was a star running back and starting shortstop and point guard as a sophomore at Tattnall. He didn’t start playing tennis until age 14 but ultimately chose the sport that came hardest to him.
“Tennis really challenged me,” Jones said. “Other sports came easily because I could beat people by being a better athlete. Tennis made me learn how to think on the court and practice better.’’
Jones won a singles state title as a senior and went on to play on scholarship at Gainesville Junior College, where he was the No. 1 seed at the nationals. He then played at Georgia Southern. In his college offseasons at Southern, Jones trained with a Savannah pro named Wally Norwich.
Jones also helped Norwich work with younger players, including Georgia tennis legend Al Parker when Parker was the nation’s top junior. The experience inspired Jones’ career path.
Jones became tennis director at Rome’s Coosa Country Club in 1983 and remained there 17 years.
In 1987, Coosa had more than 35 state-ranked junior players, the most of any private club in the Southern section. In the late 1980s, Jones became Georgia’s Junior Davis Cup coach alongside Rick Davison and led the team to 10 straight Southern titles. Jones coached USTA Southern’s boys 18 team at the nationwide intersectional tournament.
In 2010, while at his current post at Idle Hour Country Club in Macon, Jones saw his players win five of the 10 singles titles at the Georgia Junior Closed Qualifying Championships, the state’s top junior tournament.
Jones’ former players through the years have included Mysti Morris of Georgia Tech, Becker O’Shaughnessey of Alabama, Ariadna Riley of Tennessee, Colt Gaston of LSU, Jess Jones at Tennessee, Rebecca Baum at Alabama, Michael Durham at Auburn and Samuel Barrow of Mercer.
‘’What inspires me is watching kids improve,’’ Jones said. “It’s fun taking kids that were 10 and are now playing at Clemson or Florida or Georgia, or even when beginners rally with you after two or three months.’’
Jones was the GTA’s junior coach of the year once, director of the year once and pro of the year three times. He is a member of the Rome Sports Hall of Fame (2001), the Macon Sports Hall of Fame (2009) and the Tattnall Square Academy Athletic Hall of Fame (2014).
Jones’ toughest challenge in life was the passing of his 23-year-old son, Camden, who was killed in a car accident in Macon in 2018. Jones has signs posted on the fences of the courts at Idle Hour that are meant to inspire his players and teach life’s lessons.
“Cowboy Up in Life,’’ one reads. “Attitude is Everything,’’ says another. Those signs and all the lessons he’s taught and learned in a lifetime of tennis became even more real for him in mourning his son.
“If it wasn’t for tennis, I don’t know where I’d be,’’ Jones said. “It kept me strong. You get knocked down, you’ve got to get back up. You’ve got to be strong. Tennis kept me going.’’
Jones also credits the support of his wife, Donna, and children Carmen, who works alongside him in the Idle Hour pro shop, and Carson, the head tennis pro at the Savannah Golf Club.