Stanton Ridge's Jim Wolklin nabs Three Aces in Five Days

Photo courtesy of Mark Antle

All Jim Wolklin ever wants to do is put a good swing on his tee shots, especially on the par-3 holes.

Wolklin, a member at Stanton Ridge Golf & Country Club in Whitehouse Station where he resides, did exactly that over a five-day stretch in February. Remarkably his “good swings” resulted in three holes-in-one.

They came at Wolklin’s winter course, Heritage Bay Golf & Country Club in Naples, Fla., starting on Friday, February 12. The other aces came on February 15 and 16.

Coming into this winter, Wolklin, 68, had already achieved eight aces, seven of them at Stanton Ridge and the other at Somerset Hills Country Club in Bernardsville.

“When I’m out there, I’m just trying to make par. On all three of those holes, the pins were all in the front of the green,” said Wolklin, who plays to a handicap of 5.0.  

“When you least expect them, they go in the hole. It’s when you’re not thinking about it, and you’re just trying to make par,” continued Wolklin, who owns the Crystal Point Yacht Club in Point Pleasant.

Wolklin has played in numerous NJSGA events. In 2018, he and Tony Morelli, also of Stanton Ridge, shot a net 8-under-par 63 to win the net division of the NJSGA Senior Four-Ball Championship at Maplewood Country Club.

Wolkin’s good golf fortune in 2021 began on February 12 at Hole No. 13 in the Cypress Course at Heritage Bay. He holed out from 144 yards with an 8-iron. His playing partners were Brad Kroll, Randy Johnson, and former club champion Gary Bradbury, who narrowly missed an ace on top of Wolklin’s.

Three days later, on February 15, he claimed another hole-in-one, using a 7-iron on the 148-yard, Hole No. 21, at Heritage Bay’s Oak Course. Witnesses were David Foltz, Anthony Nizzardo, and Mike McCarthy.

The next day, Wolklin’s wife, Cheryl, got to witness some of the excitement. He dunked a 9-iron from 130 yards on the No. 26 Hole on the Oak Course. The Wolklins were playing with Steve and Mary Kosek, whose ball was near the hole.

“We got up on the green, and there was one ball on the green, and we knew there were two balls going toward the green,” he said. “We were getting closer and closer. I look down, and it’s my ball in the hole.”

Wolklin grew up in Mountainside and played golf at Gov. Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights. During those days, he had part-time job in the pro shop at Baltusrol Golf Club.He left the game until the mid-1980s, in the meantime developing businesses in the catering industry.

One memory is the ace at Somerset Hills. That day, his son, Luke, was on his bag and there to witness a little bit of magic.

“I play a gentle right-to-left draw. My ball moves a little left. On those aces, it was one or two bounces, and it’s in the hole.

“I just have had a lot of luck,” he concluded.