NOT EVEN eight wins in his first year as a trainee professional, including the associate championship of NSW, could convince Jack Wright that he’d made the right decision in choosing golf as his career.
But a year later, with another eight wins under his belt and with the inner confidence that only maturity can provide, Wright no longer has any doubts. He’s destined to be a touring pro.
“I just feel I have no other option in life,” he said, as he begins his third and final year as an associate professional at Coolangatta-Tweed Heads. “I reckon I was born to play tournament golf.”
Something of a late bloomer, Wright was 25 before he decided to follow the PGA’s Membership Pathway Program under Coolangatta-Tweed’s head pro Jared Love.
As part of their traineeship, associates are required to play Monday tournaments – often conducted as pro-ams, with the hopefuls playing alongside club members and celebrities. Wright’s first season was off the charts – eight wins throughout south-east Queensland and northern NSW, which earned him Order of Merit honours.
A late bloomer, Jack Wright has been the best PGA associate golfer over the past two years.
But still he wasn’t convinced. “There are just so many talented golfers in Australia, most of them struggling to make a living,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m a confident person, but you wonder about trying to make a career out of it.”
His second season was a replica of the first. Eight more wins, Order of Merit honours again, and another state championship, this time the Queensland PGA Associate Championship at Windaroo Lakes Golf Club, a victory which earned him a spot in the Queensland PGA Championship, his first taste of a 72-hole Australasian Tour event.
And that was the clincher.
“Some guys are born for it,” he said. “They just know they’re going to succeed. I think I’m one of those. I’m very motivated with my golf. I want to win everything. If there’s a prize up for grabs I want to win that prize.”
One man who has had a front row seat to Wright’s remarkable achievements is the PGA’s Queensland Member Development Officer Mark Weir, a 35-year golf industry veteran who works closely with associates and their head professionals.
“Jack is by far the best associate golfer in Queensland,” he said. “He’s been our best player for two years now, and he’s not afraid to go low. Playing for prizemoney seems to have given him an extra focus.
“Some young golfers who have success can get a bit stand-offish,” he said. “But not Jack – he’s retained his personality. He’s still got a bit of the larrikin in him, but he’s tempered that. I rate him very highly.”
With less than a year of his traineeship to go, Wright is already planning his playing future.
He hopes to be one of the top five associate professionals in the country at the end of this season – a seemingly modest goal considering he’s been top five in both of the past two years. That would gain him starts in most of the 2025-26 Australasian Tour events.
Wright’s confident he can turn that opportunity into a long-term card on his home tour.
He’s also planning to travel to the UK later in the year to see if he can gain status on the Challenger Tour, the feeder tour for the lucrative DP World Tour.
Looking further afield, he’s keen to test himself on the Japan Tour where, as a 17-year-old, he once caddied for his mate Matt Guyatt.
“I’d love to play in Japan,” he said. “I’ve started to learn Japanese because I’ve heard it can be really tough if you don’t have the language.”
Wright is the son of Maroochy River teaching professional John Wright, and the brother of golf coach Mackenzie. Though he learned the game in rural Victoria and grew up in Yamba, where his dad was the club pro, Wright considers himself a Queenslander.
Apart from golf, his passion is the Brisbane Lions AFL team. He was thrilled last year when, competing in a pro-am at Indooroopilly, he found himself teamed with Brisbane midfield star Jarryd Lyons. He’s also enjoyed a round with Jonathon Brown, who he says he grew up idolising.
