Bobby Braddock, a native of Auburndale who has fashioned a successful career in country music as a songwriter, has another hit on the charts.

"Golden Ring," sung by George Jones and Tammy Wynette, is the current number one country song in the three leading music publications, Billboard, Cashbox and Record World. Co-written by Rafe Van Hoy, the hot disc was in the number two spot for three weeks before moving into the top position.

A 1958 graduate of Auburndale Senior High School, Braddock went to Nashville approximately 12 years ago to give his songwriting aspirations a chance.

"He was so determined that I thought he would succeed," Mrs. P.E. Braddock, Bobby's mother, said. Her son had sent many songs to Nashville that were simply returned to him unopened. "He saw that he had to go up there," she said.

Mrs. Braddock remembers when Bobby wrote his first song - at eight years of age. "He wrote it when he was taking piano with Mrs. Lockmiller and played it in a recital." Although he did take piano lessons and played tenor sax with the AHS band, the future award-winning songwriter "preferred to do it by ear" according to his mother.

After moving to Nashville, Braddock traveled with Marty Robbins as a pianist and organist for a year and a half. He played on the Bobby Lord show and appeared in two movies, "Music City U.S.A." and "On the Road to Nashville," along with Jon Corneal, also of Auburndale.

Initial success came when a song Braddock co-wrote with Curly Putnam called "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" became a number one smash for Tammy Wynette. Last fall, Wynette's recording was re-released and hit again in several European countries. A comedy version by Billie Connely came out the same year and made it to the top of the pop charts in England.

Other major hits penned by Braddock include "Did You Ever," recorded by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood in 1971 to become a number two song on England's pop charts; "Nothing Ever Hurt Me (Half As Bad As Losing You)," waxed by, George Jones; and "(We're Not) The Jet Set," sung by Jones and Tammy Wynette, the latter two winning 1974 BMI awards for Braddock as songs receiving the most air play on country stations.

In a recent interview with a music company magazine, Braddock, who was voted the wittiest boy in his senior class, gave the following quote: "My activities include being an inactive member of NARAS, CMA, Musicians Union and the Democratic Party. My hobbies include music, reading and giving up smoking. My goals are to outlive my wife, and retire to St. Petersburg and make passes at 60-year-old blondes."

Braddock's wit and sometimes obscure mental gymnastics are also evident in his current release on the Mercury label, "Splidene." His mother described the song's lyrics as shady while a local disc jockey said, "It's really a strange song."

Braddock and his wife, Sue, have a daughter, Lauren (also known as "Jeep"), who is 10 years old. They live in Nashville to be, as his mother, said, "where it's at."