Thursday, August 09, 2001
Golf course spotlight: A.J. Jolly
Short yardage deceiving
By Carey Hoffman
Enquirer contributor
The ultimate measure of success for a golf course is not 7,000 yards. That's the first criteria in identifying championship golf courses, but how many among us are champion golfers?
Campbell County's A.J. Jolly Golf Course tips out at 6,219 yards and a par of 71. Those are attractive numbers to more than 40,000 golfers who come to the course each year. The lure is a mature, playable test of golf augmented by the natural beauty of abundant trees and water.
“We're just a golf course where most people are coming out to take in our scenery and enjoy a nice day,” said A.J. Jolly head pro Terry Jolly, a distant relative of the former Campbell County judge executive for whom the course and adjacent park are named. “The majority like us because we're well-maintained and we offer very decent value for the price.”
And A.J. Jolly's challenges are capable of nurturing the skills of champion golfers — including Terry Jolly's 18-year-old son, Justin.
The senior-to-be at Campbell County High School has been a standout among his Northern Kentucky peers this summer, leading the 7-Up Junior Tour in points for 16- to 18-year-olds and winning his age-group title in the Northern Kentucky Amateur.
The Jollys live in a house on the hill above the 18th green, and Justin grew up on the course.
“What happened with him is what I try to stress as really important with all our junior golfers,” Terry Jolly said. “The kids in our junior program, the one club they all want to hit is the driver. They just want to thrash the ball. But (Justin) learned the game from the green out. For years, he would spend hours at a time just on the practice green until he could show that he was good enough to go out and play the course. You learn the long clubs last, because they are the most frustrating.”
A.J. Jolly can be very frustrating for those with a predilection for hitting the long clubs to impress. The layout tempts big hitters with five par-4s, where its at least conceivable to drive the green. But small greens, knotty rye grass around the fairways, and the trees and water make that a low-percentage option.
A.J. Jolly was built in 1962, at the same time as the 250-acre lake that is the dominant feature at the course and park. The best holes are grouped near the edge of the lake. No. 10 and No. 18, in particular, shine as short par-4s because each features water on either side of the fairway.
While A.J. Jolly is compact enough to encourage shorter hitters and those who prefer to walk, it is actually a demanding test for female golfers.
The reason goes back to the course's 1962 construction, before the concept of building forward tees had emerged. The Red tees play not even 500 yards less than the White tees. When the course was set up to host the Northern Kentucky Women's Amateur in July, par was 75.
Updates have been worked into the course over recent years.
“Our goal is, in the next year or so, have someone come in and do a master plan for the course,” Terry Jolly said. “From our clubhouse to our traps and our tees, we'll take a good look at improving this old course.”
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Golf course spotlight: A.J. Jolly 
