Emotions would surely be mixed were you to call Rees Jones and engage in a conversation about the 2024 World Series.

The Yankees, of course, are involved and that touches a nerve. “I was a Yankee-hater all my life,” laughed Jones, the heralded golf course architect who grew up on the glory of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

“I was a Pee Wee Reese fan.”

His allegiances have changed through the years and these days Rees Jones roots for the New York Mets and possesses a soft spot for the St. Louis Cardinals. But in a sentiment that Boston (and many other) fans could appreciate, Rees Jones still loathes the Yankees.

Unless, that is, you mention that one piece of Yankees folklore that brings a smile to his face. “Yogi Berra,” said Jones, “was just a wonderful human being.”

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No matter that Berra was the face of the Yankees’ dynasty from the late 1940s throughout the ‘50s and into the ‘60s and consistently helped break his heart in the World Series (the Pinstripes beat Brooklyn in five of six World Series meetings between ’47 and ’56), Rees Jones followed a huge crowd that thought the world of the legendary Yankees catcher. Where the friendship and mutual admiration society intersected for Jones and Berra was a brilliant place called Montclair Golf Club.

There are four nine-hole courses at the club in West Orange, N.J., and the first three are owed to the design genius of the iconic Donald Ross. “The longest short course I ever played,” Bobby Jones once said of Montclair GC, which is held in high esteem.

All 36 holes have been cared for through the years by Robert Trent Jones and his son, Rees, it’s heralded enough that both a U.S. Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur have been held there. What’s more, Montclair GC is a founding member of the esteemed Metropolitan Golf Association. So, yes, we’re talking great quality.

Yet Rees Jones will tell you that you can push all those virtues aside because here is what resonated about Montclair GC for years – “Yogi Berra was the fabric of the club.”

The first time they played golf, “I shot 74 and Yogi said to me, ‘I’m going to take you with me everywhere I play,’ ” said Jones with a laugh. He certainly knew that Berra back then was a staple at the Bob Hope Desert Classic and a beloved host and guest at a number of marquee pro-ams.

“He joined after (his playing days, in the ‘60s) and he loved to play. But he didn’t hit it far. You used to wonder how he hit so many home runs. (Berra had 358 career home runs.)”

There was no wonder to Berra’s attachment to Montclair GC, however. He loved the place, at all levels.

“I remember one day I had a guest for lunch, a friend of mine who was a contractor for one of my (design) jobs,” said Jones. “We were at Montclair and we walked past the hut where the caddiemaster sat. My friend happened to look in and he said to me, ‘Man, Rees, your caddiemaster looks just like Yogi Berra.’

“I said, ‘You think so?’ and he said, ‘Just like him.’ I told my friend, ‘That’s because it is Yogi Berra.’ ”

His allegiance for the Brooklyn Dodgers aside, Rees Jones was well versed on the brilliance of Berra’s career as the heart and soul of the Yankees. There was a World Series win in 1947, five consecutive titles (1949-1953) then four more between 1956 and 1962. To this day, Berra holds World Series records for games, at-bats, plate appearances, hits, and singles.

Though surrounded by the likes Joe DiMaggio, Tommy Henrich, Johnny Mize, Hank Bauer, Gil McDougald, and Mickey Mantle it was Berra who led the Bronx Bombers in RBIs for seven consecutive seasons, 1949-55.

In 1956 he caught Don Larsen’s perfect game in the World Series, and as a manager he led both the Yankees (1964) and Mets (1973) into the World Series.

There was no disputing Berra’s uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time and produce with relentless success in the biggest spotlights. Or earn unending love for his beloved Yogi-isms. “He’d fall in a sewer and come up with a gold watch,” his beloved manager of those incomparable Yankees teams, Casey Stengel, once joked.

Ah, but the Berra aura was real, very real, even in the most casual of settings.

“He was engaging and accommodating, signing autographs all the time,” said Jones. “I remember being out for dinner one night and the entire restaurant seemed to come over.

“One night a guy came up to Yogi with a ball and Yogi says, ‘You brought a ball with you to dinner?’ The guy says, ‘No, I called my son and he brought it down.’ ”

Where Berra never felt besieged was within the confines of Montclair GC. “When you refer to a place as a second home, well, Montclair was Yogi’s second home. He felt comfortable there, he was surrounded by friends.”

After his Hall of Fame baseball career ended, Yogi Berra embarked upon a Hall of Fame career as golfer, friend, and the fabric of Montclair Golf Club.

Between his passion for golf, which he played several days a week, Wednesday night poker games, the dinners, and all the showers he took there, “he’d be at Montclair almost every day,” said Jones. “His wife, Carmen, told everyone that Yogi would shower at Montclair, not at home. He just loved being there and the members loved having him there.”

Jones played plenty of golf with Berra and was always struck by how content he was to play his game. The Hall of Fame catcher didn’t hit it far, but Yogi knew how to get it around the golf course and it was often reported that if he had to make a putt, somehow he did.

Rees Jones loves that part of the equation, because Berra never shied away from those fun, competitive games with his friends at Montclair. “It’s just that I don’t think he ever tried to get better,” said Jones. “I think he just enjoyed the people he played with, a cross-section of regular people who enjoyed his company.”

No stranger to remarkable success himself, Jones has followed in the footsteps of his late father, Robert Trent Jones, and compiled an impressive portfolio.

Called “The Open Doctor” for his renovations and restorations of U.S. Open courses such as Bethpage Black, Torrey Pines, and Congressional, Rees Jones has also blessed the golf landscape with gems such as Atlantic Golf Club, The Breakers, Daniel Island (Ralston), Nantucket GC, Haig Point Club, The Bridge, and Duke University Golf Club.

Back in 2012 when he was inducted into the New Jersey Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame, Rees Jones was told that Yogi Berra wanted to attend. “He didn’t need to do that, but he told me he wanted to,” said Jones. “It was what he did best, be a loyal friend.”

It's no wonder, then, that when he was asked a few years ago who he would like to be in life, Rees Jones didn’t hesitate. It would have been great to be Yogi Berra, who died at age 90 in 2015.

And why not?

Factor in that Berra’s military service included being involved in the landing at Normandy, then make note of three AL MVP honors and all those World Series rings. Then know that there was more, so much more.

“He was a class act. His wife, Carmen, was a gentle woman, a very nice woman. Yogi was truly successful in what he did and after his career he enjoyed the life he wanted, always being around people he liked.

“It wasn’t bad being Yogi Berra. What a life he had.”