Mount Vernon native JR Ables, a 45-year member of the PGA of America, has been elected to the 2021 Hall of Fame class for the Southern Ohio PGA. Joining Ables in receiving recognition are PGA member Mike Crotty, who was chosen to receive the Legacy Award, and Tim Tilton, selected to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.
This is the second time the Southern Ohio PGA has honored a golfer from Mount Vernon. The first, in 2005, was Larry King, who was in a horrendous auto accident on his way to the Springfield PGA tournament July 23, 2001, and came back to win the Ohio Senior PGA in 2003. Both King and Ables were high school players at Mount Vernon High School, and both went on to full PGA careers. It was King who nominated Ables for Hall honors.
Ables was born and raised in Mount Vernon. He got his introduction into the game of golf at age 13 and quickly immersed himself in the sport. Ables said he tried to learn as much as he could as quickly as he could, which led him to eventually join Rod Myer, the men’s golf coach and head professional at Ohio State University, as an assistant professional in 1971.
Ables stayed on at Ohio State for nine years, eventually taking on the role of co-head professional and assistant men’s coach in 1974 and head women’s coach in 1976. Beginning in 1980, Ables started focusing full-time on teaching the game. He was a teaching professional at Bash Recreation from 1980-82 before he moved on to the head professional and co-owner role at Eastland Golf Center. From 1989 through 2018, he owned and operated his own golf centers, first at Ables Golf Center on Polaris and then at Ables Golf on Avery in Dublin. Since 2019, he’s taught the game at a number of facilities in the Columbus area
A highly respected instructor, Ables was named the Southern Ohio PGA Teacher of the Year in 1987 and 1992.
One of his career highlights came in 2010, when then-student Rod Spittle qualified for the Champions Tour event in San Antonio. Spittle called on Ables to caddie in the event, which Spittle went on to win in a sudden-death playoff over six-time PGA Tour winner Jeff Sluman
Ables prides himself on programs he’s created and the success that many of his junior students have had over the years. In 1982, Ables created Maximum Golf, an offseason program focused on exercise and strength training that continues today with more than 40 attendees annually. Junior students that he has taught and coached include Leila Raines, Holly Niederkohr, Allison Harper and TT Crouch.
Over the years, Ables estimates that he has given nearly 90,000 lessons. He has always focused on delivering the same consideration and effort, regardless of the skill level, and has lived by a single philosophy: Keep it simple with the right fundamentals.
This year’s three inductees will be honored at the annual Southern Ohio PGA Awards Dinner on Nov. 19 at NCR Country Club in Kettering.
