Denmark, SC
Inducted December 2005
THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, BILL JOLLY HAS IMPACTED THE SPORT AS A TOURNAMENT PLAYER, A COACH, A VOLUNTEER AND A CHAMPION. JOLLY FIRST STEPPED ONTO A TENNIS COURT IN 1939 IN UNION, SOUTH CAROLINA. AFTER SERVING HIS COUNTRY IN THE U.S. NAVY, WWII PACIFIC THEATER, FROM 1944-1946, JOLLY RETURNED AND PLAYED HIS FIRST TOURNAMENT, THE UNION CITY CHAMPIONSHIPS, IN 1946. HE BECAME A MEMBER OF THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE TENNIS TEAM THE VERY NEXT YEAR. JOLLY ALSO LED THE PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAM TO TWO WINNING SEASONS AS QUARTERBACK IN 1948 AND 1949. AN AVID PLAYER, HIS RECORD SPEAKS FOR ITSELF. JOLLY HAS PLAYED IN 1275 TOURNAMENT MATCHES IN SINGLES & DOUBLES, OF THOSE HE HAS WON MORE THAN 810. HE HAS REACHED THE FINALS IN 281 TOURNAMENTS WINNING 170 OF THEM. USTA SOUTH CAROLINA RANKED JOLLY FIRST IN SINGLES 12 TIMES AND SECOND 12 MORE. HE HAS ALSO BEEN RANKED FIRST IN DOUBLES IN THE SOUTHERN SECTION.
BETWEEN 1980 AND 2005, JOLLY HAS WON 36 STATE CLOSED CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH A RECORD 32 CONSECUTIVE WINS, 5 SOUTHERN CHAMPIONSHIPS AND 1 NATIONAL INTERSECTIONAL TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP. IN 2005, JOLLY WAS SOUTH CAROLINA’S OLDEST ACTIVE TENNIS PLAYER TO WIN A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP. HE WAS INVOLVED IN THE SENIOR CUP FOR 12 YEARS AND SERVED AS CHAIR, MEN’S CAPTAIN AND AS A PLAYER. IN ADDITION, JOLLY SERVED ON THE USTA SOUTH CAROLINA BOARD OF DIRECTORS, THE SOUTH CAROLINA TENNIS PATRONS FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND MANY OTHER COMMITTEES OVER THE YEARS. LOCALLY, HE IS THE CHAIR OF THE DENMARK TENNIS ASSOCIATION AND THE DENMARK DOGWOOD FESTIVAL TOURNAMENT.
A HEAD COACH IN HIGH-SCHOOL FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL, BASEBALL, TENNIS AND GOLF, JOLLY’S INFLUENCE GUIDED SOUTH CAROLINA YOUTH INTO BECOMING COLLEGE COMPETITORS IN EACH OF THESE SPORTS. HE EVEN HAD A BASEBALL PLAYER FROM HIS ORANGEBURG AMERICAN LEGION TEAM BECOME A PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL PLAYER FOR THE WORLD CHAMPION NY METS. JOLLY SERVED ON THE SC HIGH SCHOOL COACHES ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND WAS SELECTED AS THE HEAD COACH AT THE SC COACHES ALL STAR FOOTBALL GAME IN 1960.
JOLLY HAS BEEN HONORED IN TENNIS NUMEROUS TIMES. IN 1996 HE RECEIVED THE USTA SOUTH CAROLINA ADULT PLAYER OF THE YEAR AND IN 2003 THE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD FOR HIS WORK WITH THE PUBLIC TENNIS COURTS IN DENMARK, SC. JOLLY RECEIVED THE FIRST ADOPT-A-COURT GRANT GIVEN IN SOUTH CAROLINA TO IMPROVE THE PUBLIC TENNIS COURTS IN DENMARK. RENAMED IN HIS HONOR, THE BILL JOLLY TENNIS COURTS STAND TODAY AS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT ONE PERSON CAN DO TO IMPROVE TENNIS IN A LOCAL COMMUNITY.
BILL JOLLY IS ALSO A MEMBER OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA BEACH SHAG HALL OF FAME (1988) AND THE LAURENS ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME (2001).
BILL JOLLY AND HIS WIFE OF 55 YEARS, ANN, RESIDE IN DENMARK, SOUTH CAROLINA. THEY ARE PROUD PARENTS OF BRUCE AND WIFE GLYNDA, MIKE AND WIFE EMILY, GRANDPARENTS OF BRETT, MICHAEL AND WIFE TIFFANY AND GREAT-GRANDPARENTS OF TREY AND MATTHER.
