WIRRAL'S* WILTSHIRE WINNER
Venue - Wiltshire
Winner - Matt Madigan
Runner-up - George Vaughan
Hound - Doug Albon
With the pandemic still causing widespread disruption and governments around the world prioritising public health over golf events, the commissioning landscape for the greatest invitation only amateur major championship in the world was once again looking bleak. The Belfry had been the chosen venue, excelling itself with its availability on the chosen dates during negotiations, but restrictions quashed all hopes of the 11th Jacket happening in May and The Belfry then inexplicably failed to offer availability for the chosen rearranged dates, forcing commissioner Gange to look elsewhere.
With the unthinkable prospect of The Jacket being cancelled looming large, last minute deals were struck with local establishments to host the iconic event and ensure that 2021 would be represented on the Champion's sleeve. And so it was the men of the West Country Golf Tour travelled a mixture of directions including west, east and south to Wiltshire, to play the opening round of the reduced 36 hole schedule at Bowood Golf and Country Club.
The Players cracked their drives down the first hole with an array of different strategies on show. Some favoured the left hand rough, whilst others chose to bring the trees on the right into play. However, it was those who opted for the centre of the fairway who faired best, a strategy that would prove to be a wise one around Bowood's long and meandering route. The primary advocate of this strategy was sleep deprivation survivor Will Rowe, who bisected the fairway with a glorious towering strike and was duly awarded the Members award for the best first tee shot.
The front nine proved a worthy test, with many a player leaving shots and Jacket dream fragments in the thick cut Wiltshire rough. Former Champion and trending weight loss influencer Andrew Macallister lead the field after nine holes at one under, with surly WCGT winless streak record holder George Vaughan hot on his heels at level par. Nick Bell was barking out an early claim for The Hound with a meagre six points. Former professional rugby player and decent bloke Matt Madigan used all of this his former professional rugby playing muscles to win the long drive on the third hole with an absolute thunderbastard of a drive.
It was all change on the back nine with players grinding hard to move through the field and gain a spot in the coveted final group. Former champion and greyscale enthusiast Harry Gray and former champion and Cornwall apologist Tim Brewster had a bit of go and booked their spots, with classy 19 and 18 point hauls respectively. Former champion and regular golfer Tom Wigglesworth produced a fine run after a double bogey at the tenth for a back nine of 19 points to take the half way lead whilst still married own home indoor range pioneer Matt Johnson was a shot back having built on a tidy 17 point front nine with a tidy 17 point back nine. With irons off the tee and stats backed tempo changes, would this be MJ's year? Or would Wigglesworth's cunning strategy of golf lessons and loads of golf practise give him the edge? Macallister rekindled his post Jacket victory abject form to shoot a 10 point back nine and drop himself into a share of out of contentionth. Vaughan, predictably, and Madigan, sadly, dropped back into the second group.
The final round was played at Manor House Golf and Country Club. The Hound pack set off first to the traditional chorus of barking and applause, each player in the fight of their lives to avoid bringing home the most shameful and ugly of prizes, The Hound. Former Hound and buffet breakfast destroyer Nick Bell's tail was wagging the least in last place, but the surprise member of the pack was former Champion and arm wrestling icon Tom Gange. Could the unthinkable Jacket to Hound collapse happen? Reconstructed finger user Brook McLaughlin sparked some excitement on the first tee with his crushing drive trickling up to greenside. Could this be his year? Tragically he needed 5 more to get down from the fringe and despite a swashbuckling back nine gross 38, couldn't catch up the leaders.
On the beautiful second hole, former Champion and legendary on course sandwich eater Ed Bell struck the finest of blows to win The Pinseeker tankard. Gray made an early move with a Bilbo winning long putt on the second and despite grinding out some early front nine scoring resulting in a brief flirtation with the lead, never looked like producing a sustained period of Jacket golf. Gray fell away and was soon joined by Brewster and Johnson in populating the middle of the leaderboard. In the final group it was only Wigglesworth who stood tall, pushing on for Tweed clad glory. Then the fireworks started.
Gamebook notifications went nuts in a cacophony of digital birdsong, heralding a run of unprecedented scoring from Rowe, who charged through the field with a scintillating run of birdie, birdie, par, birdie, par in a magnificent 25 point front nine blitz. This was Jacket golf at its finest. With Rowe literally on actual hot fire by the turn, Madigan and Vaughan cleverly used the smoke he was producing as a screen to sneak through the field with some outstanding front 9 golf of their own, with Madigan's gross 38 all par copybook only blotted by a double at the fifth and Vaughan's 22 points a surprisingly serious move.
As Rowe's blaze was eventually brought under control and his legitimate Ryder Cup wild card hopes faded, Vaughan pushed hard and applied heavy pressure to Madigan who continued to be absolutely relentless. Wigglesworth turned the screw with a superb birdie or eagle at the par 4 or 5 15th to keep himself in the mix, before a sorry double at the cliff edge 17 saw his challenge fade too.
Vaughan missed a chance to pull one back on 17 and playing the 18th together, Vaughan needed a solid score and for Madigan to falter to keep his hopes alive. Madigan wasn't in a faltering mood. He played the 18th with nerveless brilliance, knocking in a tricky putt for birdie to complete a magnificent final round of 75 gross, ten under for day net and four under for The Jacket, a winning margin of 4 shots. A lot of good golf was played that weekend in Wiltshire, but no one could deny that Matt Madigan played the best golf and was thoroughly deserving of his victory. Bad golf was also played, in particular by Guinness share holder Doug Albon, who earned himself The Hound with a forgettably turgid display. At the presentation ceremony some onlookers reported seeing The Jacket magically expand to fit Madigan's broad shoulders. Others said it didn't do that and actually looked a bit tight, but all agreed that irrespective of the fit it was on the most worthy set of shoulders in the West. The Wirral's* golfing warrior had won it in Wiltshire. The ultimate prize in amateur golf won with an ultimate performance.
*His wider family are from the Wirral, but Matt himself is mostly from Preston.
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