THE JACKET
Since its inception in 2011, The Jacket tournament has played host to some of West Country handicap adjusted amateur golf’s greatest moments.
Amidst towering oaks, windswept dunes and algae-filled man-made lakes, the second weekend of May ushers in a stage unique in amateur sport. Over two days and 54 holes, the most exclusive hand-selected field in golf competes for a chance to capture The Jacket, bank a Major for the mantelpiece and claim a coveted place in the WCGT hall of fame. The walks are long, the courses intimidating and the joy unbridled.
Journey intrepidly down the blustery fairways of Saunton, the heathland splendour of Mannings Heath or the opulent luxury of the K-Club, and soak in the iconic traditions, moments and history of the greatest contest in all of West Country handicap adjusted amateur golf.
FOUNDERS
Looking to free themselves of the shackles of impending real life in a post-university-graduation haze of adolescence-ending trepidation, Ufaq Qazi and Harry Gray decided to hold an annual golf contest beginning in the summer of 2007 in Cornwall.
For three years these founding fathers of the WCGT furiously battled man to man on the golf courses of the southern British Isles, treading a lonely path to handicap adjusted golfing glory. Then following the longing in his heart, future WCGT hall-of-famer Chris Chesterman learned to play the one true game, a reluctant Richard Kapur was convinced to participate, and at long last a genuine tournament was born.
After playing a successful pilot event for a first prize of pride in Killarney, Ireland in the summer of 2011, the idea for a more substantial event with a more tangible and prestigious reward was conceived, possibly in a Bristol Curry House in late summer. The first Jacket tournament was held in November of 2011, and beginning in 2013, the Jacket was scheduled each year for the second weekend in May.