HHS alumnus wins Professional Long Drive Association Amateur World Championship
Submitted Photo On his last drive of the day, Gabbard had to beat his previous drive of 323 yards.
After hitting a 343-yard drive, Highlands School alumnus Kyle Gabbard is the new Professional Long Drivers Association Amateur World Champion.
16 of the best amateur long drivers traveled to Mesquite, Nev., to compete in the World Championships.
“We had to do five rounds of hitting to get in a seating,” Gabbard said. “After those rounds, the top eight moved on. From that point, we would go four at a time, then two would go home and two would advance.”
On his last drive of the day, Gabbard had to beat his previous hit of 323 yards. He shattered that by 20 yards to take home the belt.
“That day, my furthest drive was 365 yards,” Gabbard said. “I also competed in the professional competition, and I was able to hit 406 yards, that was my furthest in both competitions. I competed in the professional competition earlier in the week and I think it really prepared me for the amateur competition.”
Gabbard first picked up golf when he was eight and played on the Highlands School team. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and he was back in Highlands, Gabbard said long driving was something he could do to keep active.
“I really got into long driving last year and did my first competition back in February,” Gabbard said. “I earned my bachelor’s of science degree from Chapel Hill and then COVID hit. That is really the route to the long driving hobby. I was trying to find something fun to do and now it has taken off.”
Gabbard said training for the competitions took six months of heavy lifting and technique prep.
“I trained for about six months before the first competition then I qualified for the World Championships,” Gabbard said. “I had to do a lot of power lifting like bench press, squat, deadlift, things like that. You have to build your strength up with those lifts and then you have to do a lot of stretching, mobility exercises and technique. All of the practicing for my hits and technique was done at Wildcat Cliffs.”
Now, Gabbard said he is hooked on long driving and plans to go professional in the event.
“I’ve definitely got the fever for it,” Gabbard said. “I’m ready to see what this next year brings. I think I’m going to stay amateur for another year, then once I hit a certain number, I’ll switch over to professional. Personally, I would say if you could hit a ball speed of 215, that is a pretty good dog in the fight.”
Gabbards father, Keven, has been the pro at the Wildcat Cliff’s Country Club for the past 13 years.
“I was so excited when I saw him win the competition,” Keven Gabbard said. “I know all of the work and determination that he put into this. We started the training about six or seven months previous to this and not competing in anything. We wanted to make sure that he was ready whenever he did go down. This past February, we figured he was ready, and we drove down to Sarasota. He ended up finishing second in that tournament. That’s hard to do when you just start out, but from then on he did one or two a month.”
Gabbard said his biggest inspiration is his father, and Tiger Woods.
“My dad was a pretty big influence on me growing up,” Gabbard said. “I think Tiger was the inspiration that kept my interest.”
The end goal for Gabbard is to win the professional competition.
“I know I’ve got some work to do, but I think I can do it,” Gabbard said. “I just want to keep going up the ladder as much as I can. I know that there is always room to improve. I do want to say a special thank you to Wildcat Cliffs’ general manager Jeff Blais, the entire membership at Wildcat Cliffs and Carolyn Holder, who got the whole watch party going back here. They allowed me to practice all of the time here and gave me a chance to grow and develop my skills. I’m very fortunate that they took an interest in all of my endeavors.”
- By Christopher Smith