The trials and tribulations
of a talented young golfer BY SARAH HILL
Editor, 20/20 magazine Financial support for any individual in Jersey
is not easy to come by, so Jason is extremely thankful to everyone who has pledged their financial support.
21 year old Jason Stokes is a young Jerseyman with ambitions of becoming a professional tournament golfer. Since the age of sixteen Jason has made steady progress in his quest. In 2015 he embarked on this journey by travelling to America to attend the International Junior Golf Tour Academy in South Carolina. Competing with golfers from America, the Far East and the UK, Jason finished second in the Order of Merit from a total of over 200 golfers. A very creditable finish and a year later Jason took his handicap to plus 3. Along the way Jason won back to back Jersey and Channel Island Championships, establishing himself as the best golfer in the Channel Islands for 2016 and 2017.
In 2017 Jason also played in a few UK Amateur tournaments to not only expand his golfing horizons but to also see at first hand the level of competition he was up against. With the help of some financial assistance from the One Foundation, The Vardon Trust and a few individual sponsors, Jason made his first full season attempt on the Amateur golf circuit in 2018.
Having spent the first two months of 2018 in Portugal, playing as an Amateur in some Algarve pro Tour events, Jason entered the season’s first major Amateur tournament, The Portuguese Amateur Championship at Montado in the Setubal region of Portugal. Jason finished 13th with a total score over four rounds of 5 under par. This result enabled Jason to gain entry into the World Amateur Golf Ranking ( WAGR ) in the lofty position of 4696. At the end of the 2018 season Jason was positioned at 1031, having played in a further eight ranking tournaments in the UK.
In 2019 he will embark on a further attempt to better his WAGR position by once again travelling to Portugal for the winter and again entering
the Portuguese Amateur
Championship. The forthcoming season will include attempts to play the Spanish, Italian and French Amateur Championships along with the English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh Amateur Championships. There will also be at least a further twelve tournaments for Jason to play in the UK.
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2019 will be a year in which Jason needs to show his credentials if he is to realise his ambitions, so plenty of practice and training will be required, leaving no time for any full time work. Of course this comes at a financial cost and thankfully for Jason, One Foundation, The Vardon Trust and the individuals from last year have all once again pledged their support, which is essential.
Financial support for any individual in Jersey is not easy to come by, so Jason is extremely thankful to everyone who has pledged their financial support. This support allows him to concentrate solely on his golf during the season and for his part Jason will work with Wayne Osmand at Les Mielles, helping with his children’s golf school, as a way of saying thank you for the support he has been given.
The realisation of Jason’s dream will only come to fruition with the support from local organisations and of course the hours and hours of practice he has to put in to keep that dream alive.
We wish Jason every success in 2019 and beyond in his quest towards becoming a playing Professional Golfer.
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