Jolly getting back into swing

Arnold Palmer said it: “Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated.”

That’s what can frustrate to no end even the best of golfers.

Former Mountain Brook star and current LSU All-American Stewart Jolly can attest to that. He finished off a great junior season — in which he earned All-American honors and helped the Tigers to a semifinal finish in the NCAA championships — with an outstanding summer and fall, including a win in the prestigious Northeast Amateur Invitational in Rhode Island. He then flew to England to play for the 10-man United States team against Europe in the Palmer Cup — an event established and named for the aforementioned Palmer — that is called the Ryder Cup for collegiate golfers.

He began the fall season well, but then the simple became complicated. 

“I had a great year last year and had a pretty good summer and a good start to the fall,” Jolly said, “but I’ve kind of been struggling with my game for a little while.

“But it’s starting to get back into form, so I’m pretty excited for the rest of the year.”

He had reason to be. After our conversation, Jolly led the Tigers to the SEC Championship, finishing in a tie for fourth individaully.

Jolly is the No. 1 player for the Tigers. He really wants to get his game in form by the NCAA Regionals, which run May 14-16, and then hopefully in the NCAA Championships in late May and early June.

“That’s been the whole goal the whole semester, peak at the end of the year. And my game’s starting to improve, so I’m excited.”

He said he’s worked harder than he ever has in getting his game back to where it was.

“Over time, I created a couple of bad habits in my swing and I was trying to change it back to where it was when I was playing my best and I kind of overdid it, overfixed it and got into some other bad habits. And now it’s just starting to get comfortable again.

“I honestly played very well our first two events in the fall, and since then it’s just been a combination of things but it’s starting to really come around and round into form.”

Besides working with LSU coach Chuck Winstead, Jolly also worked with his coach back home, Eric Eshleman. 

“Just making sure I’m doing the right things and working on the right things,” Jolly explained. “I’ve been working harder than I ever have, so it’s frustrating I haven’t gotten the results I’ve wanted to yet, but they’re definitely coming. I feel like I’m starting to play a lot better.”

One sign of that was the final round of the Texas A&M tournament, when he rallied for a par-72 after a couple of so-so rounds. 

Then at the SECs, he shot 68-68-69, playing 3-under-par on his final four holes.

He has a lot of determination and confidence he’ll finish this year well and carry it over into the summer. And then, he plans to fulfill his longtime dream of playing at the highest level of golf.

“I’ve always believed in myself, and last year was a huge boost of confidence, knowing how well I played the whole year,” Jolly said. “And then winning the Northeast Amateur was a huge confidence booster as well, knowing all the names that were on that trophy. It was a great experience and a great event.”

Some of those names on the Northeast Am trophy? Ben Crenshaw, Dustin Johnson, Scott Hoch, Luke Donald, David Duval, John Cook ... and now Stewart Jolly.

“I plan right now to play one more summer of amateur golf and try to make the Walker Cup team at the end of the summer, and then turn pro right after that and go to qualifying school in the fall,” Jolly said. 

And then all of the hard work will have paid off. But that just means more hard work at the next level.

“[It] doesn’t matter if you’re playing great or poorly,” he said. “You’ve still got to get out there and grind on the small things and make sure you’re working on the correct things.”