By Keith Lacey
In golfing parlance, Kevin Winn likes to Â?grip it and rip it.Â?
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And he just happens to have the ability to rip it further than almost any other golfer in the country.
Winn, 28, who lives in Valley East, showed off his rare ability by finishing second at the Canadian Long Driving Championships, held in Aliston, Ont., just outside Barrie, last weekend.
After winning his qualifying section, Winn, affectionately known as Â?BullÂ? to his friends and co-workers at IncoÂ?s Copper Cliff smelter, Winn teed off against the best hitters in the country and finished second.
That earned him a spot on Team Canada, which competed against a team of five of the longest hitters from the United States. Much to his chagrin, Team Canada came up only a few feet short in the team competition.
Winn picked up his first golf club as a youngster and has been an avid competitor since age 10.
Â?IÂ?ve really loved the game for a long time, but I quit for a few years when beer and women came into the picture,Â? said Winn laughing. Â?I got back into it a few years ago with my Dad and IÂ?ve just gotten better and better at hitting the ball further and further.Â?
Unlike competitive golf, where strategy and course management play a significant role, long driving competitions are all about muscle and brawn, not finesse and brains. You only have six shots during each competitive round.
Only your furthest shot counts. Put all six shots out of bounds and youÂ?re out of the competition. As expected, long driving is all about trying to hit the ball as hard as you humanly can, while maintaining a semblance of form to keep it straight, said Winn.
Â?ItÂ?s all about generating club head speed, so when I swing I can literally see the head of my club at my opposite foot during the back swing,Â? he said. Â?I come right out of my boots.
Â?The further back you bring your golf club back and harder you swing, the further the golf ball is going to go if you hit it right.Â?
The problem in long driving championships is between 50 and 60 per cent of drives go out of bounds and donÂ?t count, said Winn.
A total of 13,000 competitors from across Canada signed up for regional competitions, including about 8,000 in the menÂ?s open division, said Winn.
At nationals, the top three from different divisions qualify for a final showdown of 20.
During qualifying, there was a strong tail wind and he managed to hit four drives over 400 yards, said Winn.
During the finals, the wind was blowing right in the face of the golfers and his best drive landed 327 yards away, good enough for second place.
Â?I hit four over 400 yards during qualifying, but the temperature dropped 12 degrees and we had a 30 metre headwind during the finals, so all of us were losing about 80 or 90 yards on each drive,Â? he said. Â?The good thing is we all faced the same elements during the finals and that made if fair for everyone.Â?
His second-place finish came despite the fact he was extremely nervous heading into the finals, said Winn.
Â?This sport is all about bragging rights, but there were a lot of great competitors and I suddenly was very nervous,Â? he said. Â?I could barely place my ball on the tee the first few shots, but I settled down and finally got into a groove with my final few shots.Â?
There was a large crowd of fans, who whooped and cheered and applauded every good drive, he said.
Â?There were lots of people yelling and screaming,Â? he said. Â?It was an awesome thing to be part of.Â?
While you canÂ?t measure exactly how far you hit balls on the driving range, Winn estimates his best-ever drive during a competitive round happened a couple of years ago at Cedar Green Golf Course in Garson.
On the par 5, 500-plus first hole, Winn grabbed a hold of his tee shot and hit it less than 70 yards short of the green.
Â?I won the longest drive during an Inco tournamentÂ?my drive ended up going about 425 yards,Â? he said. Â?ThatÂ?s the furthest IÂ?ve ever hit one on a golf course.Â?
While heÂ?s a 10-handicapper in competitive golf and would like to see that improve, Winn says he fully intends on making long driving championships a big part of his life for many years to come. The second place finish at nationals has earned him a qualifying spot for the World Long Drive Championships next summer in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Â?My ultimate goal is not only to qualify for the worlds, but to win a world championship,Â? he said. Â?IÂ?ve still got a lot of work to do, but IÂ?m still young and I have many good years ahead of me.Â?
To hit the ball as far as he does, Winn uses his six-foot-one, 225-pound frame to power a Dynacraft 330 CC titanium driver with a graphite shaft. Getting as good as heÂ?s become doesnÂ?t come easily, however, he said.
Â?IÂ?m at the driving range almost every day from the beginning of golf season until the snow starts flying, sometimes for three and four hours at a time,Â? he said. Â?You have to continually work on your mechanics to try and improve and get extra distance.Â?
