John Dixon Reynolds III, M.D., of Augusta, Georgia, 82, retired Neurological Surgeon and Vice President of Global Business development for Club Car, departed this life and entered into eternal rest on Friday afternoon, August 19, 2022, after a long and valiant battle with Parkinson's Disease and related complications. He was surrounded by his loving family.
Dr. Reynolds was born on September 5, 1939, the first child and only son of the late Frances Bailey Reynolds and John Dixon Reynolds, Jr. He was joined four years later by his sister Barbara; and twelve years later, by his sister Kathy. Dr. Reynolds was educated in the parochial and public schools of Richmond County, graduating from the Academy of Richmond County in 1957.
Dr. Reynolds had a life-long passion for golf and an undying respect for the game. As a child, Dr. Reynolds learned his love for golf through his first lessons taught by his father. Later, he was fortunate to be taught by Ed Dudley, the first golf professional at Augusta National Golf Club, a gift from his father’s employer. In his youth, Dr. Reynolds spent his summer weekday mornings playing golf at the Augusta Country Club, then spent his afternoons serving as a caddy for older gentlemen members.
Dr. Reynolds won his first tournament, the Pee Wee Tournament, at Augusta Country Club. He went on to win many more Junior Tournaments at Augusta Country Club, and he also helped his team win the Georgia State High School Golf Championship in his senior year at Richmond Academy in 1957. The prize he treasured above all, however, was being named the first recipient of the Dana Wade Trophy, awarded for sportsmanship in Junior Golf at the Augusta Country Club.
After graduating from high school in 1957, Dr. Reynolds enrolled at The Citadel, graduating in 1961 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemistry. While at The Citadel, he was a Summerall Guard and he lettered in golf all four years. As a Cadet, Dr. Reynolds won the 1961 Azalea Golf Tournament, a prestigious amateur tournament held at the Charleston Country Club. As a member of the Citadel Golf Team, he won the Southeastern Intercollegiate Golf Tournament in 1959, and he was the Runner-Up in this prestigious competition in 1961.
Dr. Reynolds put his golf clubs aside in the fall of 1961 to attend the Medical College of Georgia, from which he received his Medical Degree in 1965. He was a member of Phi Rho Sigma fraternity. He completed his internship in General Surgery at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. In 1966, Dr. Reynolds and his family, which now included his newborn daughter, Leigh Anne, moved back to Augusta, where he entered the Neurological Surgery Residency Program at the Medical College of Georgia, completing that program in June 1971 .
After completing his residency, Dr. Reynolds entered the United States Army Medical Corps and was deployed to Vietnam, where he served at the 95th Evacuation Hospital in Da Nang. He was often the only neurosurgeon in the country. Dr. Reynolds was later stationed at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio, Texas. He received the Bronze Star Medal in recognition of his dedicated service not only to his military patients in Vietnam, but also for volunteering to treat patients at orphanages around Da Nang and at nearby leper colonies.
In August 1973, Dr. Reynolds joined Neurosurgical Associates in Augusta and practiced neurological surgery with that group until his retirement in September 1997. Upon retiring from the practice of medicine, he began a second career with Club Car, where he served as Vice President of Global Business Development until his retirement in the Fall of 2015. Despite his busy career, Dr. Reynolds always made time to work on his golf game. One notable highlight of his adult recreational golf career was his victory in the Men’s Club Championship at the Augusta Country Club in 1982. As the first and only active physician to win this title, he prevailed over his dear friend, David Volpitto, also a doctor, after 35 holes of match play.
In his free time, Dr. Reynolds always made it a priority to give back to his community. He served on the Board of Directors for the Augusta Museum of History from 1982 to 1988, including serving a term as its president from 1986 to 1988. During his tenure, the museum experienced its greatest period of growth and completed the initial design stages for the construction of a new and expanded museum. He also served on the Advisory Board for Wachovia Bank, now Wells Fargo, and he was a founding director of Savannah River Banking Company, now First Community Bank.
Because of Dr. Reynolds' love for the game of golf, he gave back to the golf community in significant ways. He was particularly well renowned for his expertise on golfing rules, and he served on many rules committees throughout his lifetime, including the Rules Committees for the Masters Tournament at Augusta National and as the Chairman of the Rules Committee for the Sage Valley Junior Golf Tournament from its inception until 2016. Additionally, he served as a rules official at many U.S. Open Championships, PGA Championships and Walker Cup Matches. Dr. Reynolds was elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the United States Golf Association, and he served in this capacity from 1988 to 1992. While volunteering with this prestigious organization, he served on many committees, including the Junior Committee, as Chairman, which conducts the USGA Junior Championship each summer, and the Mid-Amateur Committee. He was also a member of the committee which debates and modifies the interpretations of The Rules of Golf in association with the Royal and Ancient Golf Club Association of St. Andrews, Scotland. His volunteer time with the USGA was some of the most enjoyable and rewarding work of Dr. Reynolds’ lifetime of involvement in the golf community.
Dr. Reynolds was also active in the Georgia State Golf Association as an administrator and as an expert rules official, holding many offices in that association and serving as its President in 1989-1990. During his time volunteering with the Georgia State Golf Association, he was instrumental in conducting many Junior Golf Tournaments sponsored by the GSGA in the Augusta area. Dr. Reynolds was also one of the original directors of the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame, and he was very involved in this organization throughout the years it was based in Augusta. He held various offices in this organization and served as its chairman for a number of years. Through his leadership, this organization was able to secure many notable golf figures to speak at its banquets through the years. Dr. Reynolds also instituted a notable award in honor of his parents, who inspired his love of the game and gave him his start in golf. This award, the Reynolds Caddie Medal, was awarded annually to the caddy from the State of Georgia who exemplifies the traits of a loyal, knowledgeable caddy.
Locally, Dr. Reynolds was a member of the A6A, a former golfing group of likeminded golfers. While captain of this group, he arranged many golf trips to prestigious golf locations, such as the Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews, Merion Golf Club, Pine Valley Golf Club and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. He was also a former member of the Augusta Golf Association.
Among his many honors and accolades, Dr. Reynolds was inducted in 2008 into the PGA Caddies Association Hall of Fame as a Caddie/Mentor, and he also received the Gene Sarazen Spirit Award. In 2013, Club Car inducted Dr. Reynolds into its prestigious Black and Gold Club for his many contributions and service to Club Car. He was a director of the Robert T. Jones Scholarship Fund, and in 2017, the United States Golf Association awarded Dr. Reynolds the Isaac Grainger Award for over twenty-five years of volunteerism for the USGA. Indeed, as the Editor of Golf Digest aptly described him, Dr. Reynolds was "one of the great men of golf."
Dr. Reynolds was a member of the Augusta Country Club, the Augusta National Golf Club, and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland. Prior to his extended illness, Dr. Reynolds enjoyed his memberships in Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken, South Carolina; Peachtree Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia; Pine Valley Golf Club in Clemmenton, New Jersey; Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania; Royal St. George's Golf Club in Kent, England; The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers Murifield in Guillane, Scotland; Ballybunion Golf Club in Ballybunion, Ireland; Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland; Portmarnouck Golf Club in Dublin, Ireland; Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club in East Sussex, England; and the Links Club of New York City. He was a former member of the US Seniors Golf Association, and he was an honorary member of the Hibernian Golf Club in Dublin, Ireland.
Professionally, Dr. Reynolds was certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery, and he was a member of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the Georgia Neurosurgical Society, the Southern Neurosurgical Society, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Reynolds was a long-time member of St. Mary on the Hill Catholic Church.
He is survived by his wife, Harriet Laslie Reynolds, whom he married in 1964, his daughter Leigh Reynolds Lemaster, of Atlanta; and his son, John Dixon Reynolds IV, and daughter-in-law, Kristin Burns Reynolds, of Greenwich, Connecticut. Dr. Reynolds is also survived by his five grandchildren to whom he was a devoted “G-Daddy." Not a day went by that he did not check on his grandchildren: Anna McElvey Lemaster, William Ingram Lemaster and Sarah Brantley Lemaster, all of Atlanta; Charles Laslie Reynolds and Oliver Dixon Reynolds of Greenwich, Connecticut. Dr. Reynolds is also survived by his sisters, Barbara Reynolds Melton, and Kathryn Reynolds Bowman and her husband Greg, also of Augusta. He is also survived by his Laslie in-law relatives, Martha Jean Laslie Woodward of Quincy, Florida; Beulah (Bootsie) Laslie Brinson and her husband Buckley Bird of Monticello, Florida; Eleanor Laslie Griffin and her husband Dr. Taylor Griffin of Deland, Florida; John B. Laslie of Quincy, Florida; and Berry P. Laslie of Tallahassee, Florida.
Dr. Reynolds was preceded in death by his parents, Frances and John D. Reynolds, Jr. of Augusta; his beloved son-in-law, Brian Lemaster, of Atlanta; his mother- and father-in-law, Annie Berry Laslie and Joseph Taylor Laslie of Attapulgus, Georgia; his sister-in-law, Joan Laslie Livingston and his brother-in-law, G.Mayo Livingston, Jr. of Bainbridge, Georgia; his sister-in-law, Dr. Mary Laslie Grodner and her husband, Dr. Robert M. Grodner of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; his brother-in-law, Lt. Joseph Taylor Laslie, Jr. USMC, of Attapulgus, Georgia; his brother-in-law, E. Bailey Brinson of Monticello, Florida; his brother-in-law, D. Sylvester Woodward of Quincy, Florida; and his brother-in-law, John C. Melton of Augusta. Dr. Reynolds is also survived by many cousins, nieces and nephews in both the Reynolds, Bailey, and Laslie families.
The Reynolds Family is forever grateful to the many loving, compassionate and dedicated caregivers who assisted Mrs. Reynolds in caring for Dr. Reynolds for many years, including Alisha, Lillie, Cynthia, Ray, Vicki, Pat, Chasiti, and Doris; and from Promedica Hospice, Cindi, who provided herculean care for Dr. Reynolds in his last few days.
Gifts in memory of Dr. Reynolds may be made to the Augusta Museum of History Golf Exhibit, 560 Reynolds Street, Augusta, Georgia 30901.
A Memorial Service is to be held at St. Mary on the Hill Catholic Church, 1420 Monte Sano Avenue, Augusta, Georgia 30904, Tuesday, August 30, 2022 at 11 a.m. A reception to celebrate Dr. Reynolds’ life will be held at the Augusta Country Club immediately following the service. A private family burial service will be held later.
Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Starts at 11:00 am (Eastern time)
St. Mary on the Hill Catholic Church
Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Starts at 12:00 pm (Eastern time)
Augusta Country Club
Reception will follow services at St. Mary on the Hill
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