With the arrival of cooler weather, many of the sports in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association fall lineup have already come to a conclusion for this season, but for the champions who are crowned in state tournaments, the thrill is certainly still very much on the front burner.

One champion who just two weeks ago finished out in front after a four-hole playoff to capture the KHSAA Individual Golf Champion title, was not only familiar with the pressures of the state golf tournament, but is also very familiar with Albany and Clinton County as well.

C.J. Jones, a Franklin County High School junior who now lives in Frankfort with his parents, recently dropped in a short birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole in the state tournament to claim the individual championship title.

C.J. Jones is the son of Albany native Greg Jones, who attended Clinton County schools and graduated from Clinton County High School in 1981.

C.J. is the grandson of Wayne Jones and the late Betty Clark, of Albany. He is the great grandson of the late Charlie Jones and Bernice Jones.

Greg and his wife, Trish Jones, now reside in Frankfort, after moving there a few years ago from the Bowling Green area, where C.J. had formerly been a member of the South Warren High School golf team.

His recent KHSAA state tournament play was the fifth time the high school junior had played in the state tournament and his second as a team member with Franklin County High School.

His team finished as the runner-up in team competition, behind Louisville St. Xavier.

Playing the recent state tournament at Bowling Green Country Club put Jones in somewhat of a “home course setting that he felt was an advantage and likely one factor in his good play during the tournament.

His previous three state tournament appearances were with his South Warren team.

“I did grow up playing at Bowling Green Country Club,” Jones told Linda Younkin in an article for the Frankfort State Journal two weeks ago. “It’s definitely comforting to play somewhere I grew up. I know a lot about the course, what type of shot to hit, where the breaks are in the greens.”

Jones finished the tournament with a two-day total of 136 with rounds of 66 and 70 for the eight under par score.

Tied with Cullan Brown of Lyon County, the two began their playoff action on No. 18, then played 10 and 11 before Jones hit the winning birdie putt on No. 12.

C.J.’s dad, Greg Jones, is currently the Human Resources Manager at Vascorp in Georgetown and his mother, Trish Jones, is the Principal Partner of People Resources LLC, in Frankfort.

Greg Jones played baseball for the C.C.H.S. Bulldogs, but despite his athletic ability, his grandfather was quick to take credit for C.J.’s own athletic prowess.

Wayne Jones, who played basketball for the Bulldogs under coach Bill Kidd and graduated in 1957, was having no trouble playing the part of the proud grandfather when he told Clinton County News Editor Al Gibson this past weekend that he was “pretty certain” that his grandson’s athletic abilities were passed down from his generation.