BY THE GRAYS OF GOD

Venue - Saunton, Devon

Winner - Harry Gray (+9)

Runner-up - Ed Green (+11)

Hound - Matt Johnson (+37)

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The first Jacket to be played over a gruelling 54 holes, on the East and West courses of the famed links at Saunton Sands, provided a stern examination paper for a record field of 19 players. 

 

With the Bridesmaid Curse finally lifted after a forgettable 9th place finish the previous year, Harry Gray was seeking to exorcise all his demons once and for all, with the WCGT bookie MattBet anointing him favourite prior to the tournament, the feeling being that the format change to 54 holes would favour consistency above all else. Gray made steady if unspectacular progress over rounds 1 and 2, sitting in 5th place with 18 holes to play, just 5 shots back of surprise leader Ed Green. 

 

Welshman Green, playing as if he was born on links land by repeatedly 2-putting from 30 yards and hitting fairways with metronomic regularity, led the tournament beautifully for the first 48 holes and looked for all the world to be heading towards a famous wire-to-wire victory. However creeping fatigue drowned him over the closing stretch and his golf swing began to  capitulate while a visibly nervous Gray manfully ground out pars and bogeys with great poise and courage under intense pressure. He endured superbly over the difficult final few holes and tapped in on 18 in front of adoring galleries to set a demanding clubhouse lead of +9, a stiff target which would not be beaten.

 

A crestfallen Green bravely holed out from 10 feet at 18 to claim the Bridesmaid Salver ahead of Tim Brewster, who had blistered up the leaderboard after setting a tournament 9-hole record of 8-under-par (26 points) on the front 9. Event commissioner Matt Johnson was magnificent in maintaining a sunny disposition and exhibited unimpeachable sportsmanship despite starting the tournament with an unwanted WCGT record of 6 consecutive blobs. He recovered well after this harrowing opening but was unable to avoid the Hound.