What a relief it was when I heard my
name announced by the public address announcer saying I had qualified
for the ReMax World Long Drive Championship. It was honestly one of
the greatest moments in my life as at that moment I reflected on how
far I had come in less than a year of competing in Long Drive. All my
hard work, sacrifice and dedication was finally justified on Saturday
July 13th as I went up against some of the best hitters in
the Region. To my credit as well, I always stayed in the winner’s
bracket and never faced elimination.
Reflecting back on my performance at
Regional’s, I felt more prepared mentally than physically. It was
a long 8 hour drive to Conneaut, Lake PA and I had practiced the week
leading up. I kept visualizing my good swings and remembering what
they felt like. It didn’t help that I was also battling a swing
change, but I was not going to let it slow me down. I went with a
hybrid of my old swing and my new swing and it obviously did the
trick.
I was not hitting the ball as high as I
would have liked, but the conditions that day called for a lower ball
flight as we were hitting into a headwind most of the day and a
saturated ground with no roll.
It was pretty cool to start seeing
familiar faces I have seen in the long drive community at the
regional, along with people I had talked to through the online forums
and finally been able to put a face to an email (haha).
Now everyday is going to be dedicated
to preparing myself for worlds, through physical, mental and swing
training. I am going to start contacting people looking for sponsors
to help offset some expenses. I am very thankful for the team of people that I have around me
who have helped get me to where I am in such a short period of time. Between my swing coach, personal trainer, nutritionist
and the local support at Timberlin Golf Course and my
friends and family, I couldn't ask for anything more.
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