2019 REVIEW
The battle for the WCGT Order of Merit and the coveted Brunel Sceptre reached new heights in 2019. WCGT fans were in rapture from the first tee shot in icy February to the final putt in muddy October. Observers were captivated at all times by both the brilliance of the golf played and the mediocrity of the trash talk, not to mention the fashion trends, with Tom Wigglesworth and Ed Bell among those breaking the boundaries of previously well established societal norms. The entire show was a privilege to follow from Australia.
After a hugely popular maiden win for the long suffering Matt Johnson at the Atlantic Super Links the scene was set for a year of career renaissances. There was a grinding victory for Tom Gange at the Goat Rut, and a drought-ending win for 2015 Jacket Champion Pete Steed at a low-scoring Woodlands Masters. With the wheels set in motion for a thrilling summer swing, the Tour crossed the Irish Sea for the 9th playing of The Jacket at the prestigious K-Club. It was a Jacket for the ages, with the enigmatic Tom Wigglesworth smashing every record in the proverbial book, comprehensively demolishing the field by a preposterous 13 shots. It was the performance of a lifetime, career-defining brilliance, the likes of which the WCGT may never again witness. Event commissioner Brook McLaughlin played some of the best golf of his career and was himself a massive 10 shots clear of the rest of the field, but was only able to claim the Bridesmaid Salver as “the best of the rest”, such was the scale of Wigglesworth’s domination over a glittering field of handicap adjusted talent. McLaughlin’s time in The Jacket will surely come, as sure as water flows and wind blows, but this was to be the only disappointment of a stellar season for the burly Ulsterman. The usually reliable Rich Gange was surprisingly off colour, plummeting down the leaderboard with a disappointing 20 blobs. He was gracious and charming despite taking home The Hound.
The Champion’s Drive-In showcased a new event format on tour with 2012 Jacket Champion Chris Chesterman winning a fun-filled Flags contest. At another brute of a Gin Club Invitational, the affable wannabe Cornishman Tim Brewster claimed the title and followed it up with another scone victory at the traditional GCI summer party that evening. Wiping away Devonian tears of bitter defeat, WCGT legend and 2017 Jacket Champion Harry “The Grace” Gray bounced back to claim his 6th career win at The Players, aided by a 5-point eagle, a rare bird indeed. The Summer Skins delivered a rookie win for Matt Madigan (pictured), a very welcome addition to the WCGT and tipped by many as a potential multiple winner in 2020. His clutch final hole birdie to clinch the Skins swag earmarks him as a real danger man when the heat is on. The Autumn Classic culminated in a thrilling sudden death playoff, with Brook McLaughlin defending the title superbly over the plucky Ed Bell, whose enforced part-time schedule underpinned a disappointing season for the multiple tour winner and 2013 Jacket champion. At a magnificent first Matchplay Finals Day held at The Berkshire club, an utterly rampant Tom Wigglesworth eked out a slim lead in the Order of Merit with an excellent 4&3 victory over the doughty Doug Albon in the afternoon final, after dispatching McLaughlin by the same score in the morning semi-finals.
On to the Tour Championship, held at a soggy Wales National. By now a genuine 4 horse race had developed for the Order of Merit, but an all-expenses-paid-by-obscene-GP-Locum-wages megatrip to Japan had already derailed Wigglesworth’s hopes of winning the Brunel Sceptre to cap off a remarkable season. That left McLaughlin, Gray and Steed to joust for ultimate supremacy on a testing layout. With McLaughlin and Steed floundering on the back 9 the indomitable Gray, needing outright victory to claim the Sceptre, found a late birdie to apply fierce pressure to leader Ed Green with 3 holes to play. Despite a horror snowman at the 17th hole, the unflappable Green emerged from two years in the golfing doldrums and finally exorcised the demons of his collapse in the 2017 Jacket, holding on manfully for a 3 stroke victory over Gray and a fast finishing Rich Gange. The T-2 finish for Gray was not enough to deny McLaughlin a maiden Order of Merit, the Ballygowan Bomber’s first Sceptre richly deserved after an incredibly consistent season where he ranked highly in most performance analytics, including leading the tour in total net birdies. The 2019 season concluded in epic fashion the following day with the traditional Cavalier Pairs, where co-defending champion Rich Kapur defied belief to repeat his sudden death heroics of 2018 by draining a 30-footer on the first playoff hole just to stay alive, then casually boxing a 40-footer for birdie on the second playoff hole to win with partner Rich Gange against the unlucky Will Rowe and Chris Chesterman. Scenes to send fans into unbridled sporting ecstasy.
With 3 tour wins on the CV and the Brunel Sceptre on his mantelpiece, only a major now eludes the ebullient maverick Brook McLaughlin. He will resume his quest for a maiden Jacket title in 2020 with the bit between his teeth and much bigger balls. As will everyone. The fans simply cannot wait.