CHESTERCHAMPION

Venue - Machynys Peninsula, Wales

Winner - Chris Chesterman (E)

Runner-up - Ed Bell (+1)

Hound - George Posford (many)

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On the faux links of Machynys Peninsula in South Wales an epic 3-way battle went down to the wire with Harry Gray, Chris Chesterman and debutant Ed Bell all in with a great chance of claiming the title walking down the 36th hole.

 

With everything on the line, Chesterman bravely took on the par 5 final hole in two. After coming up short in the greenside bunker, and with his short game demons as pervasive as ever, it seemed then that the title would be decided between Gray and Bell. However Gray had been stricken with a debilitating rib injury for much of the final round and couldn't call on his best game down the stretch despite the pain relief offered by a generous Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE). An ill-timed 3-putt finally did for Bell while Chesterman made a courageous par from the bunker to hold off Bell by a single stroke. 

 

A failure in planning meant that the Jacket weekend in 2012 was only a 1 night affair, leading to the prizegiving ceremony on Sunday evening being relocated to the basement room of a Bristol curry house. The inauspicious surroundings were ill-fitting for the magnitude of the occasion and history will remember this as the moment that fixed-date Jacket organisation was conceived.