Jack the Hack

Welcome to the home of Jack The Hack

Jack the Hack is a social tournament with a long and illustrious history as one of the most exclusive dates on The Shabby Dot Com Tour. Many a good man has disgraced himself in search of an elusive invitation to what has been one of the ‘hot tickets’ in antipodean golf for more than a decade. The tournament format is singles stableford and a quick glance at the list of past champions reveals it only rewards bandits of the highest order. The event is usually held on a Saturday in October on one of the salubrious courses of the Mornington Peninsula south east of Melbourne.

The 2012 Jack The Hack

The 15th running of The Hack was on in August 2012. The details were:

When: Sunday August 12, 2012.
Where: Long Island Country Club.
Prizes: All the usual Hackers trophies and paraphernalia.
Entry: $80 per person. Carts an extra $20 pp.
Bookings: Through Diamond Jim Spencer.

Jack The Hack Champions 1997 – Richard Mitchell 1998 – A. Waldron 1999 – P. Scott 2000 – Rob Horrigan 2001 – Richard Mitchell 2002 – DominicWall 2003 – C. Barnard 2004 – C. Matthews 2005 – Matthew Pitt 2006 – Hacked off 2007 – Marty Koolstra 2008 – Richard Mitchell 2009 – Richard Mitchell 2010 – The Coach 2011 – Rob Horrigan 2012 – Rob Horrigan To the right are our tournament hosts, Richard Mitchell and Jim Spencer, sharing a special moment with the Jack The Hack Perpetual Trophy at Eagle Ridge after the 2007 event.

The event pays homage to the life and times of Jack "The Hack" Spencer, father of tournament co-founder Jim. Many years after Jack’s passing, a treasure was discovered. Jack was a member of Yarra Yarra GC for many years and in 1933 he won the club’s Quarterly Cup with a 99 off the beater (wielding an impressive handicap of 27 for a nett 72). This ‘Bradmanesque’ performance catapulted an erstwhile humble weekend scrapper to the lofty status of Prince among Hackers.

After the rediscovery of this lost treasure, Jim and accomplice Saddam regarded Jack’s effort such a remarkable application of the art of hacking, that it was worthy of celebrating with a tournament honouring Jack’s legacy to all very average golfers. And so Jack The Hack was born. The obvious choice for the trophy was the original Yarra Yarra Quarterly Cup, which is now the JTH Perpetual Trophy and engraved with the names of the winners. Although blissfully unaware in his own lifetime, Jack has proved to be an inspiration to mediocre players the world over from one generation to the next.

The 2012 Jack the Hack

Played on Sunday August 12 at Long Island Golf Club in good conditions. The results were:

1st – Rob Horrigan – 35 points playing off a 11 h/cap – back to back Hacks.
2nd – Don Jones – 33 points off a 27 h/cap (after a count back with JW).
3rd – John Williams – 33 points off a 26 h/cap.
NAGA – Diamond Jim Spencer – 16 points off a 30 h/cap.

The 2011 Jack the Hack

Played on Sunday October 9 at Gisborne GC in appalling conditions. It rained all day and the dreadful cold presented a genuine and unnecessary test for the Hackers. The results were:

1st – Rob Horrigan – 32 points playing off a 11 h/cap – the start of this champion’s back to back win’s.
2nd – John Williams – 32 points off a 30 h/cap (after a count back with RH).
3rd – Don Jones – 31 points off a 20 h/cap.
NAGA – Jesse Mathews – 16 points off a 32 h/cap.

The 2010 Jack the Hack

Played on Saturday 9/10/10 at Beacon Hills  GC in superb conditions. The results were:

1st – The Coach – 33 points playing off a 32 handicap
2nd – Richard Mitchell – 32 points playing off a 9 handicap (the guy was at his peak)
3rd – Jim Spencer – 32 points playing off a 32 handicap (after a count back with RM)….the only time JS has come near the winner’s podium!
NAGA – Joel Mathews – 18 points playing off a 18  handicap

The 2009 Jack the Hack

What: The twelfth remarkable installment of the Hacking Where: At 13th Beach Golf Links, Barwon Heads When: Tee off from 11:30am on Saturday October 24 Who: The exclusive invitational field was 12 Hackers The 12th running of The Hack had a slight twist to the left as it featured some special new elements including a privately catered dinner on Saturday after golf with live entertainment and on-course accommodation at the lush apartments at the Hawthorn Suites for the purpose of  physical, emotional, psychological, philosophical, mental and spiritual recuperation après the rigours of the Hacking. It was a massive event with three complimentary events occurring simultaneously with our friends in the Montclaire Classic and the mighty William Buckley Classic also teeing it up over the weekend at the same venue. As such, there was a large posse of like-minded scoundrels and rogues who stayed on Saturday night after sharing the dinner in a private function room at the 13th Beach clubhouse where the participants from the three events to all get together for some revelry and mutual appreciation. To help grease the wheels of enjoyment, local acoustic guitar hero Josh Dance played a few tunes.

The Hackers had a super day on The Creek Course at 13th Beach in great conditions for golf. The course was in splendid condition and provided a great test of skill and temperament which most of the Hackers seemed to fail with flying colours. When the dust had settled, only one Hacker had tamed the monster by unfurling an enormous score of 38 points - a lazy 9 points clear of 2nd place! He could have skipped the first four holes and still won the title.

With gems such as, "I look forward to coming back and beating you all again next year!", Saddam had the audience in the palm of his hand and as he departed he started a chant of "Saddam, Saddam, Saddam!" that is still echoing in the halls of the 13th Beach clubhouse. It was a great night and we all look forward immensely to his next victory. The final results for Hack # 12 were:

The 2008 Jack the Hack

What: The eleventh outrageous installment of the Hacking Where: At the Growling Frog Golf Course, Yan Yean When: Tee off from 10:00am on Saturday October 18 Who: The exclusive invitational field was 16 Hackers The field teed off with a moderate northerly blowing and the Hackers were blissfully unaware of what was to come. As the day wore on, the winds speeds increased and the temperature began soaring and topped 30c. In true Hacking style, it was not a day for the faint-hearted! The course was in fantastic condition and well within the skill level of MOST players. When the dust had settled, two-time winner and co-founder of JTH Richard Mitchell had spread-eagled the field with one of his now-infamous displays of outrageous showmanship combined with a small dose of golfmanship. He managed to edge out defending champion Marty Koolstra to stop him becoming the first ever Hacker to go back-to-backer. Marty slipped in to second place on countback after a tie for 2nd & 3rd place with Rob Horrigan. As well as being a triple threat with his renowned singing, dancing and acting skills, Saddam is now the only JTH Triple Crown winner with three mighty titles to his name – 1997, 2001 & 2008. The final results for Hack # 11 were:

The 2007 event was held on Saturday October 20 at the Eagle Ridge Golf Course on the Mornington Peninsula where all the Hacking began a decade ago. The tight track provided a stern test of hacking abilities and a great day was had by all. The wondrous array of celebrations on offer after the golf including the traditional ‘Champions Dinner’, consisting of a gourmet BBQ that was a patriotic and fitting tribute to the many great hackers who have scratched their names into the mighty Jack the Hack Trophy.

When the scores were counted, the field had been spreadeagled by a masterful round in perfect conditions from Marty Koolstra. An experienced Hacker, he had gone close only once before in his long and arduous quest for the holy Jack the Hack title. This time Marty turned in a peerless performance, racking up 41 stableford points and leaving the field in his wake with the runner up, Craig Ryan, finishing on 37 stableford points and third place getter, Steve Hooper, another point further back.

The spoils (containing a largely alcohol-fuelled prize pool) were also shared among the four Nearest the Pin winners, a Longest Drive award and the obligatory JTH NAGA award. As if walking away with the main prize wasn't enough, on the 18th hole, Marty drove the final stake through his opponents hearts by taking out the Longest Drive prize with a monstrous effort that travelled well over 300 metres. As far as we can tell, the final results were:

Click here to view a heavily censored gallery of some of the shenanigans that went on at the 2007 JTH.