No dreading this cut

HIS dreadlocks have made him instantly recognisable on the golf course but Jack Wilson is preparing to lose his trademark look in the name of charity.

Wilson, who has become a sensation on the Australian PGA Tour with Happy Gilmore caddie lookalike Rizz O’Neill, is an ambassador for Challenge Cancer Foundation and Leuk the Duck, and has made the call to cut the dreads so that he can raise money for kids fighting some of life’s toughest battles.

“It is for an incredible cause for Challenge but more importantly it is to raise money to build wigs for kids who lose their hair during treatment,” Wilson said.

“We talk about the fun of shaving this off, but it is not about me, it is about raising money for an incredible cause. Since working with the Challenge Cancer foundation and doing a fundraising dinner for them and being an ambassador for Leuk the Duck since midway during the year, I have spent some time with kids in hospital under the watch of Challenge and seen what they are going through.

“It was then the idea came to me to use the platform I have built to really do something special and raise some money that could do so much more than whether I have hair or not. So using that platform that I have built to do something is a great opportunity and one that I am very lucky to have.”

Wilson is aiming to raise $20,000 and will shave each of his 69 dreadlocks on day two of the Australian PGA Championships, which will form part of Yellow Day.

While ‘ Rizz’ is set to keep his look, Wilson acknowledges he is losing a huge part of his brand by losing the dreads.

But the 28-year-old says some things are simply more important than image.

“The dreads have probably become me a little bit and are definitely my brand,” he said.

“What I was about prior to growing the dreadlocks was, I was looking to use that to build the brand and break down the stereotype and make golf more accessible.

“You add the beard and throw in Rizz caddying for me, I try to bend the rules a little bit to engage a different demographic than what we have … so that was a big part of having them.

“But I am healthy and have a choice to look the way I do and kids lose that, so the ability to give them a bit of normal is so special.”

Donations can be made via the Challenge website.