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Terry Jolly (3rd from right) with Commissioner Tom Lampe, Lisa Krummen, Commissioner Brian Painter |
by Colin Moore
Many golfers see the course as somewhere
they go to get away from their home life. Somewhere they can leave the stresses
of family life behind and have three or four hours in their own company, or the
company of friends. Long time Head Professional at AJ Jolly Golf Course, Terry
Jolly, is not one of those men. For the last 45 years the course has been a
family affair for him. His parents dropped off there at 15. His brother Gary
worked there too. His wife Lisa has worked beside him for almost his entire time
there. His son Justin was literally born and raised on the course. Terry is
Campbell County’s longest tenured employee, however this June that will come to
an end and he’ll leave the only job he’s ever had.
What Terry has meant to Campbell County in
that time is immeasurable, according to Commissioner Brian Painter: “It’s only when we were hiring a new police
chief that it dawned on me. That’s an
important process, so there were many panels, and so many checks and balances.
But the golf pro at AJ Jolly interfaces with many more members of the public in
a year than the chief. There are about 23,000 rounds of golf per year, and it’s
incumbent upon the professional to be welcoming to everyone who comes through
the door. That’s reflected in Terry.
“In
his time at AJ Jolly, Terry has been more important to the social fabric of Campbell
County than any politician, more than any mayor. Both in terms of the number of
people he dealt with, and the way he treated them.”
Terry Jolly was named Head Golf Professional
at AJ Jolly Golf Course in 1982 but his career at the course started long
before that. “In the winter of 1973,
when I was 15, my mom dropped me off to ask for a job. When the course opened
in 1961, the head pro was a guy named Herk MacAtee. He passed away suddenly in
1971 or ’72, another guy took over for a year and then Herb Fitzer started in
1973, right when I walked in and asked for a job. So I started with him as a
cart boy.”
For the first six months or so Terry’s
parents had to drop him off and pick him up at the course. Eventually he got
his driver’s license and continued to work at AJ Jolly through high school,
college, in fact he never left. “It’s
been my only job.”
Terry started playing golf at 10 or 11
years old (“Not as young as kids today
do.”) His dad played, and Terry watched him leaving for the course on a
Wednesday, or a Saturday and started messing around with clubs then. “I didn’t really fall in love with the
sport until I started working here and I could play for free!” He played
through high school and received a scholarship to NKU to play golf.
If he fell in love with the game of golf at
16 or 17 years old, Terry fell in love with the business of golf at 23 or 24
years old. “That’s when I really knew I
wanted to work in golf. I loved the logistics, you’ve got two outings and a league
and you have to work out how to get all the people out there playing.”
It’s easy to see why AJ Jolly is such a
special place for Terry. Until four years ago he and his wife, Lisa lived on
the course, in a house a long putt away from the clubhouse. “We lived on the grounds for 32 years. My
son, Justin, was born here and grew up here. It was always so positive for me,
being here so close to them all the time.” Justin was a very good golfer in
his own right, winning the city open amateur at 13, as well as numerous other
junior tournaments. He also played at college and spent some time at a PGA
course in Port St Lucie, Florida, before going into another line of business.
Justin now has two young children who will definitely keep Terry busy in his
retirement.
Another source of pride for Terry is the
number of charity golf outings that have made their home at AJ Jolly over the
years, at the moment there are 60 to 70. “To
think of the amount of money that’s been raised here over the years for
charity. It must be in the millions. You don’t really notice it at the time but
looking back now it’s a huge amount of money. Holly Hill children’s home has
been holding an outing here for 56 years. That’s a lot of money raised in that
time.”
On the golf side of the business, Terry has
built a legacy that will endure through the other professionals he’s given a
start to. “We started eight boys at
around 16 years old. All of them have stayed in the business and all of them
have gone on to be professionals somewhere.” Bill Schuetz grew up a mile
away from AJ Jolly, took his first lesson at 5 years old and went on to work
for Terry for four years. Since then he spent more than 27 years as a
professional at Summit Hills Country Club with more than seven of them as head
pro. “The reason I became a PGA pro was
because I wanted to emulate Terry. I wanted to be a professional like him, and
I wanted to have fun like him. We had a blast, but we were always very
professional. Terry is still one of my best friends even now, he’s a class act.”
Terry’s trainees have gone on to be pros in Florida, Arizona, New York,
Ohio and here in Kentucky.
Denny Pelle, who played professionally on the Nike Tour and went to PGA Q School, is now Membership Liaison at Whisper Rock GC, a Phil Mickelson designed course in Scottsdale, Arizona. Denny also credits Terry with starting him off in his career. "Terry was an idol for me. He was the pro at the club where I grew up playing, he gave me lessons, let me work there and let me play for free. He's someone very special to me, I still tell stories about him even now."
Denny remembers Terry's sense of humour, how guys would turn up to buy fishing licenses and Terry would sell one to them, despite the fact that the club never sold fishing licenses. Or how he'd tell guys going out late that if they heard a siren it meant bad weather was coming in. Every day at 6:05pm a nearby fire siren would sound, and the guys would watch as golfers walked off the course even though it was bathed in sunshine.
"He's a great storyteller, great fun and a prankster, but he also taught me so much about work ethic. I still use things he taught me to get to younger guys I work with now. I've been lucky enough to work at some great clubs, Terry taught me so much about hospitality, customer service and how to interact with people."
Denny Pelle, who played professionally on the Nike Tour and went to PGA Q School, is now Membership Liaison at Whisper Rock GC, a Phil Mickelson designed course in Scottsdale, Arizona. Denny also credits Terry with starting him off in his career. "Terry was an idol for me. He was the pro at the club where I grew up playing, he gave me lessons, let me work there and let me play for free. He's someone very special to me, I still tell stories about him even now."
Denny remembers Terry's sense of humour, how guys would turn up to buy fishing licenses and Terry would sell one to them, despite the fact that the club never sold fishing licenses. Or how he'd tell guys going out late that if they heard a siren it meant bad weather was coming in. Every day at 6:05pm a nearby fire siren would sound, and the guys would watch as golfers walked off the course even though it was bathed in sunshine.
"He's a great storyteller, great fun and a prankster, but he also taught me so much about work ethic. I still use things he taught me to get to younger guys I work with now. I've been lucky enough to work at some great clubs, Terry taught me so much about hospitality, customer service and how to interact with people."
Terry’s replacement as head professional,
Brian Lambdin, is another one of his tutees, having started at AJ Jolly at 16
years old, gone away to be a head professional elsewhere and now returned.
Terry has no doubts that he’s leaving the course in great hands.
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Of course, anyone else would tell you that
Terry’s, and the course’s, success has a lot to do with him. Commissioner Brian
Painter has known Terry since they were teenagers: “He’s so steady, so grounded and so dedicated to that golf course and
to golf in general. I’ve never seen anybody so dedicated to anything, without
ever taking a break away from it. He’s the consummate pro.”
Most people might be surprised to know
that, as a golf professional, Terry only played “eight or 10 times” last year. “Most people would guess that I played every day. The outings are a big
part of what I do, 60 outings is 60 committees I have to deal with. Then there
are 14 or 15 leagues, and high school matches to fit in.” Terry recognizes
that golf is time consuming and wants everything to be as smooth as possible
for every golfer. “I want people not to
have to worry, the main problem with golf is the time commitment, I want them
to be able to walk on and not have to wait for an hour to play.”
Even after 45 years, Terry’s biggest
influences in his career have been his parents. One of the things he has loved
about working in a municipal course is that he can be out front and meet
people, rather than sit back in an office. “My
parents always taught me to treat people the way I wanted to be treated.
Hopefully I do, and that’s probably one of the biggest reasons I’m still around
today. People want to feel welcome when they come, and my parents had the
biggest part in teaching me that.”
Although Terry is retiring, he hasn’t lost
any drive and he isn’t planning to be idle, although he wonders if he might try
something outside of golf next. He certainly doesn’t have any regrets about spending
the long front nine of his career at AJ Jolly. “I’ve met a lot of great people, I’ve been very fortunate to make great
friends. I’ve worked seven days a week for my entire career and never had one
morning where I woke up and didn’t want to go to work. A lot of people get up
and don’t want to go where they are going. I always tell kids to find something
you love doing, and thank goodness I found that.”
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AJ Jolly Golf Course (AJ Jolly GC) |
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