Jon Gustin

Jon Carlton Gustin (May 7, 1932 – April 9, 1994) was an American professional golfer. Many golf greats, including Ben Hogan, considered Gustin to have been one of the greatest ball strikers in the history of the game.

Gustin worked primarily as a club pro but played on the PGA Tour from 1956 to 1965. He played in four U.S. Opens and six PGA Championships. His best finish on the PGA Tour was a T-2 at the 1960 Cajun Classic Open Invitational. His best finish in a major was a T-9 at the 1964 PGA Championship.

Golf Digest once selected Gustin as the best-dressed player on the PGA Tour.

Jon Gustin was born in Kentucky on 7 May 1932.

He grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, where he learned some golf from professional baseball player and professional golfer, and Birmingham native, Sammy Byrd who owned a driving range in the area. He turned pro in 1951 and soon after joined the United States Marine Corps. As a marine, Gustin was a member of the Marine Color Guard at the White House during the Eisenhower administration.

After serving in the marines he worked at the Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Virginia. He visited the Philadelphia Country Club as a guest of the assistant professional, Bernie Haas, where he met the head professional Loma Frakes.

Impressed with Gustin's ball-striking, Frakes and two other members sponsored Gustin as a three-man corporation, named Wynnewood Golf. Under their sponsorship from 1959 through 1962, Gustin finished 68th, 55th, 59th, and 54th on the PGA Tour money list. His putting and an inability to work the golf ball from "right to left" or "left to right" kept him from being more successful.

Later, Gustin returned to his hometown, Birmingham, as the head professional at the Birmingham Country Club. At the time, future golf champion and Birmingham-native Hubert Green was developing his game as a junior golfer.

• Alabama Open (five times)