When British golfing legend Tony Jacklin makes his annual trip to the Midlands later this summer it will be something of a family affair.
The double major winner and victorious Ryder Cup captain is a regular at the Farmfoods British Par 3 Championship at Nailcote Hall in Solihull at the beginning of August and this year he will enjoy some extra special support.
“I’m looking forward to that event where we always have a wonderful few days,” he said. “This year my son Warren will be playing – who has played in the last three or four – and he is bringing four grandchildren over from Germany and my daughter is over from Singapore with four grandchildren so it will be fantastic to have all the family around.
“The event itself is really going from strength to strength and it is great that Farmfoods have got behind the event and of course we have people like Ian Woosnam and Brian Barnes playing this year. On the hotel side there is Rick Cressman and his wife Sue and you couldn’t work with nicer people. It is a great team behind the event and now all we need is a break in the weather so we can get plenty of spectators along. I have spoken to Rick on the phone this week and he has been working hard on the course and now all we need is some sunshine to make sure the grass grows.”
But Jacklin will have plenty to occupy him before the start of the Par 3 Championship –which runs between August 7-10 and is being broadcast on Talksport – as he is currently at Royal Lytham for the Open Championship where he is working with BBC Television and is also an ambassador for Glenmorangie and while all the talk has been about the weather in the run up to the event, he said that conditions had not been as bad as predicted. He said: “It’s been beautiful weather and sunshine for about the past four hours when there had been a forecast for heavy rain but the weathermen couldn’t tip rubbish at the moment.”
But whatever the weather, Royal Lytham & St Annes offers special kinds of challenge for the world’s best golfers, challenges that Jacklin was good enough to overcome during his playing career.
“It’s like coming home for me,” said Jacklin. “This really is one of my fondest spots. I played my first Open here in 1963 when I qualified and played quite nicely and then I won the Pringle here in 1967 before then winning the Championship in 1969. It really was a course I liked and a real stern test - I think very under-rated and probably one of the most difficult links courses out there.”
And in terms of who might come out on top, Jacklin thinks its difficult to look beyond the best of British.
“I think Westwood again has a real chance. Luke Donald is number one in the world but Westwood is so good tee to green and that is so important at Royal Lytham. Here you have to be a good driver or you can’t compete. Westwood will certainly be near and I don’t think Tiger will be far away - I like the way he is swinging the club again like he is back to the normal Tiger we know. I like Justin Rose as well and Ian Poulter, in fact there is a group of English guys who are in with a chance.
“What is important though is that you also have some good fortune with the weather. There is nearly 11 hours between the first and the last tee times on the first few days so conditions can really change.”
