Melksham golfer takes on ambitious challenge

A golfer from Melksham has been on a mission to complete an ambitious challenge and has been documenting his progress on social media.

Jacob Brickell set himself a personal challenge in October to go from a 24-handicap golfer to a scratch golfer, an elite amateur player with a handicap of 0, in just one year.

Jacob grew up in Melksham and now lives in Spain with his wife and young family. He is staying temporarily at his parents’ house in Southwick to help his father recover from a stroke.

He has been practising daily at Westbury Golf Club and sharing his progress with thousands of followers on social media.

“I go there almost every day at the moment as it’s only a few minutes from my house,” said Jacob. “I have spoken to a few people in the management at Westbury Golf Club and they really support the journey.”

Jacob has been playing golf for one and a half years. Since starting the challenge, his social media content has gained over five million views and more than 33,000 followers across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, with daily short-form updates and weekly longer YouTube videos.

Jacob added, “I started this challenge largely because I grew up in a small town where people didn’t really talk about achieving big, ambitious goals in sports as something possible. When I travelled and met successful people, I realised the only real difference was mindset. They believed they could do it.

“Now that I’ve become a dad (I have a 4-month-old baby girl) and I’m at a stage in life where it’s kind of a ‘now or never’ moment to go after something athletically ambitious, I decided to dive into golf.”

He practises every day and plays two to three rounds a week. “The biggest change is in my golf swing. I’ve had a lot of lessons and worked with some great coaches, like Harry Trusler from Bowood. It’s far from perfect but it’s much more athletic than before,” said Jacob.

“The aim isn’t professional golf, but to show what consistent practice, coaching and perseverance can achieve for an everyday amateur golfer, while also highlighting great local courses along the way.

“I’ve always been competitive and this challenge, to become a scratch golfer in a year, is my way of proving to myself and others that with the right mindset and hard work, anything is possible, and it’s not too late to go after it.”

Jacob will continue to document the rest of his challenge on his social media channels: Instagram: thatsonegolfing and Youtube: @ThatsOneGolf