Faster than Rory, further than Bryson - life on golf's 'party' side

BBC News

6 days ago

Six golf balls, a shot clock with music blaring, and a WWE-style belt for a prize.No, it's not a scene from the new Happy Gilmore movie, but the professional sport of Long Drive Golf. As the sport's name would suggest, it is all about hitting the longest drive possible and Northern Ireland's Aaron Lennie is one of the best in Europe.No putts, no wedges and no water hazards. Driving distance off the tee is all that matters. Just how far are those drives? Well, at the recent Open Championship at Royal Portrush, Bryson DeChambeau topped the driving distance category with an average of 327.5 yards - a full football pitch less than Lennie's personal best of 437 yards.At more than 185mph, Rory McIlroy is one of the top players in professional golf for ball speed, but Lennie can surpass 200mph. That's as quick as a Formula 1 car.Players have two-and-a-half minutes to hit six balls down a long grid, with an out of bounds area either side. They go head-to-head in group or knockout stages, and there's plenty of drama, a party in the stands and some showboating alongside it all."It's like a party atmosphere, a totally different scene to golf," said Lennie, who recently won his first professional event in Austria."I don't know if people will like this, but it kind of has a LIV feel to it. There's music blasting, there's a lot of noise, a lot of energy. It's fast-paced, which for some people is something that's missing from golf. "It's a breath of fresh air that way. It's a game within a game. None of us claim to be good golfers but we can hit a ball far and we can do it well."
Speaking of DeChambeau, the two-time major winner has played a key role in the growing popularity of the sport. Not afraid to step outside his comfort zone, the American entered the World Long Drive Championship in 2022 and, of the 128 players to start the event, he came second with a drive of 406 yards."My generation have benefited massively from Bryson doing what he did," Lennie said."When he dipped his toes in the Long Drive scene it was kind of at rock bottom. "The spotlight he brought to it was massive for us and it's getting bigger and bigger year on year."
'There's a lot of ego in the sport'
Lennie came across the sport after a failed attempt at breaking into golf's professional ranks. The 26-year-old went to college in the USA and said he wanted to stay involved with the sport, taking part in his first Long Drive tournament in 2022."I got the bug for it and just wanted to hit it further, further and further," said Lennie."It's got explosive power movements, you want to be able to rotate really quickly and create a lot of force from the ground. "It's the same thing a lot of the pro golfers are doing now to hit it further, it's just we are at the extreme end of that."
Lennie combines his Long Drive commitments with being an assistant professional at Clandeboye Golf Club in County Down.Despite only picking up the sport three years ago, he won his first professional event in Austria on the European tour and qualified for his first World Championships in September. "It felt good and it was a monkey off my back," he said."Hopefully it's the start of a few more to come".Due to the distances that the professional Long Drive players can strike the ball, Lennie does the majority of his practice sessions indoorsIt allows him to adjust his technique, look at the data behind each swing, and track each one of his drives. "In some sessions we don't really care where the ball goes, we just want it to go fast and far. In terms of hitting it straight it's a whole other practice session."There's a lot of ego in the sport, I don't think anyone can deny that, but there's a science to it as well with all the fine details to make sure the ball is going as far as it can."We get to do the fun part, we don't need to worry about the bunkers or anything like that. We just tee it up and give it a hit."