Former British judo champion Brian Jacks became the first ever Briton to win an Olympic medal when he won bronze at the 1972 Games in Munich. Famous during the latter part of his career for his appearances on the BBC’s Superstars, when he earned the nickname ‘King of the Dips’, Jacks, now aged 74, spends most of his time in Thailand, where he plays golf as often as he can, and continues to help raise money for the Royal Variety Club of Great Britain
I love golf because… it’s a great way to exercise and to get outdoors – preferably in the decent weather. I say that because I spend most of my time in Thailand these days, where the sun shines almost every day. I’m very lucky as we have some superb golf courses very close to where I live.
After 25 years in which judo dominated my life, I only took up golf in my 30s, but I instantly feel in love with the game. At one point I even had visions of becoming a scratch golfer and joining the pro circuit, but I left it too late. I’m naturally competitive, but I get most enjoyment from the camaraderie and friendships you build up on the golf course.
My favourite golf course in the world is… Pinnacle Point in South Africa. It’s around 400km east of Cape Town, near Mossel Bay. Darren Clark helped design it and it’s a stunning place to play golf, with the majority of the hole overlooking the Indian Ocean. When I last played there, we were lucky enough to see a group of whales jumping out of the sea and diving in different directions. I’ve been lucky enough to have played golf in many countries on some fabulous courses, but South Africa tops my list.
My most memorable round was… at Wentworth Golf Club in Surrey back in the mid-80s, when my son Philip, who must have been about 14 at the time, caddied for me during the Royal Variety Championship. I shot seven-over par and won the coveted ‘Green Jacket’ for the Royal Variety Club of Great Britain. I’ll always remember that day. The late great Sir Henry Cooper introduced me to the Royal Variety Golf Society about 40 years ago and I try to play in their events as often as I can.
I’ve had a few other memorable rounds for slightly different reasons. About 30 years or so ago Henry [Cooper] and I were playing in a four-ball pro-celebrity event and we were paired up with a couple of businessmen. Coming towards the end of the round, we were in a superb position to win the event. We were playing the pink ball game, where you have to keep it in play for as long as you can and add up the combined scores with it. We were in great shape and had managed to average three points per hole with it. Just as Henry was about to tee off with the pink ball on the 17th he noticed a speck of mud on the ball. Almost mid-backswing, he pulled out of the shot, picked up the ball, and took it over to the ball washer to give it a clean. He popped it into the washer and gave it a couple of turns, but the ball never came back up to the top! Being Henry, he gave it a few wallops, but after much shaking and rattling, the ball still refused to come out, and short of breaking the thing open, there was nothing we could do. So that was that, we’d lost the competition. It must have been quite comical for onlookers watching a former heavyweight boxing champion and a judo Olympic medallist trying to wrestle with a ball washer and losing!
My most recent golf holiday was to… Los Arqueros Golf & Country Club in Spain. I’ve had quite a few golf holidays here, as a good friend of mine, Terry Mancini, who played for Arsenal and the Republic of Ireland, used to have a little house there, where I often stayed. Los Arqueros means ‘arrows’ in English, and believe me, you have to be dead straight if you don’t want to lose your ball on almost every hole! Over the years I’ve played a lot of golf in and round Marbella with Terry, Mike Reid and quite a few of the boys from the Royal Variety Golf Club.
The favourite club in my bag is… whichever has behaved itself the best during each round. Sometimes it’s my putter and other times it’s my driver or my 3-wood. That’s the nature of my golf – I never know how well or badly I’m going to play with each and every club!
The shot I least fancy hitting is… one from about 50 yards from the flag, because I never know what to do. Sometimes I go for a high lob shot, and at other times I try to run it in with a 7 or 8 iron, and sometime I get caught between the two. Either way, it’s not a shot I look forward to playing!
My dream fourball would include… Rory Mcllroy, Nigel Mansell and Mike Reid. Rory is a phenomenal player, and I just love everything about his swing and the way he goes about the game. I was introduced to Nigel by David Lloyd, the tennis player. We won team Superstars together and we’ve been great friends for years. Callaway once presented me with a set of custom-made Ryder Cup golf clubs, which I put in one of the Variety Club auctions. Nigel paid £25,000 for them and I think they’re in his museum. Mike, who is sadly no longer with is, was a great friend of mine from the Variety Club. He was a great guy and he would have kept our four-ball in stitches with a constant stream of stories and jokes.
My favourite post-round meal would be… pie and mash with liquor sauce! You can’t beat it and anyone reading this from the east end of London will know exactly what I mean. It’s an amazing meal.
My favourite post-round drink would be… a pint of Guinness with blackcurrant followed by a Bacardi and coke.
The course I’d most like to play is… TPC Sawgrass in Florida. I’ve seen it loads of times on TV and would love to play it one day. It looks amazing.