IG Writer Second In Women’s World Long Drive Event
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Calgary's Lisa 'Longball' Vlooswyk Came Oh-So-Close To Winning The Women's World Long Drive Championship In Nevada This Year

by Gord Montgomery

Good athletes throw down challenges and dare others to beat them. That was exactly what Calgary’s Lisa ‘Longball’ Vlooswyk did at this year’s International Women’s Long Drive Alliance championship in Indio, CA. and it almost paid off.

The only problem was, someone accepted her challenge and went one step beyond, relegating the long-running Canadian women’s long drive champion to second place in the event after she started thinking she had finally climbed to the top of the world in her sport.

So while she didn’t quite reach the pinnacle this time around, Vlooswyk’s close finish only whets her appetite more for finishing things off.

Despite a smaller field than it has been in the past for the world long drive championship final, given the event has switched ownership and is no longer part of the Re/Max-run competition in Mesquite, NEV., it was still heavy with big hitters.

This year’s event saw less than a dozen ladies tee it up to see who could go the deepest, compared to “about 21 last year,” Vlooswyk, a contributing writer for Inside Golf said, but that didn’t mean the competition was any less demanding.

“At this competition, save one girl, every single girl that was there has been to a world championship before so there were absolutely no easy rounds,” the Calgarian said.

“It was a world-class field for sure. It would have been nice to have a few more girls there,” which could well be the case in a year or two as this branch of the long drive world gets its feet back under it.

In the latest competition, the weather started off nicely as one would expect in California, but it turned nasty as the rounds went on.

“We started at six o’clock at night and it was ideal for long drive,” the defending Canadian champ, who retained her title when the only other Canadian in the field (Michelle Sheptak, who’s longest drive was 244-yards in the second round) was KO’d.

“We were posting big numbers like 290, 300 (yards). I think the longest in the early rounds was Sandra (Carlborg) at 320. The numbers were there to be had.”
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At least they were until the wind came up and became a determining factor in the championship as the field was pared down to the final three, which included Carlborg, from Sweden, American Leanne Quinn and Vlooswyk.

Quinn was the first of the finalists to hit, setting the early standard at 254-yards, a rather short drive given the skill of the ladies, but with headwinds blowing from 50 to 70kmh, a good poke, Vlooswyk said.

“That was a good number. What was disappointing though was the wind brings the numbers down, and when the public reads them, they think ‘Oh, I can hit it that far,’” Vlooswyk stated.

With the wind howling, what set the Calgarian up for her run at the title, she suggested, was an old saying that came to mind — “When it’s breezy, swing easy.”

“I actually wasn’t trying to swing faster, I was trying to hit it straighter,” a change in mindset from the past she said, noting that idea came from trying to qualify for an LPGA event earlier this summer where she learned shorter and straight is far better than long and crooked.

That’s especially true in long drive competitions, where a ball must land within the confines of a 40-yard wide grid. If it goes outside the lines it doesn’t matter how far it traveled, it doesn’t count.

“The preferred flight for long ball hitters is a high draw but the go-to shot here was a straight ball,” said Vlooswyk, who pumped out shot after shot, with one in particular looking like it might stand up as the winner.

“When I got up there, I felt confident and relaxed. I hit four of my six balls into the grid, and one was 276 yards, 20 yards past Leanne. I absolutely crushed that ball.”

For a while, it looked like that particular ball might crush the world, but it wasn’t to be. After launching her first three shots out of bounds, Carlborg caught her fourth shot on the sweet spot and left everyone in attendance thinking it was the best of the day.

When it was measured though, it came up one foot short of where Vloosyk had gotten to, so it was back to the tee again with the pressure mounting.

“In my head I’m thinking ‘Oh my goodness. She has two balls left and the pressure then to not only hit it in the grid, but to beat mine, would be tremendous,” the leader recalled.

Instead of folding, Carlborg laid into her second-last shot, which appeared to be heading OB off the tee. As it turned out, the Swede met  the challenge the Canadian had put down and went beyond it as her ball faded back into the grid and settled down at 281 yards, just far enough for the win.

Despite the end result, the Canadian champ wasn’t pouting. In fact, she was ecstatic.

“This is the best world final finish I’ve ever had. I’m just thrilled! When she hit the fifth ball in, my heart sank a little bit, but I was so close.

“But then I was excited because I thought ‘Look how close you are. You were that close to the world title.’ All the training has paid off and it makes me want to go after it even more for 2010. I can’t wait for next year; I believe next year will be an even bigger and better World Championship and I can’t wait to go back.”

So it’s back to the tee and pounding out those long balls for Longball Vlooswyk, who can pack this oh-so-close finish in her bag along with all her big sticks and know she isn’t far away from being called the best in the world.

About the writer:
Gord Montgomery is the sports editor for two weekly newspapers in the Edmonton area. He has been writing for Inside Golf for just over two years now and can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .