Long Drive Hopeful: Kim Welch Tees It Up in World Championship

By Lisa D. Mickey

Kim Welch, a rookie on the 2006 Duramed FUTURES Tour, is used to being among the longest hitters on tour. But the Sacramento native faces a whole new cast of big blasters when she goes up against a field of women qualifiers in the annual RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship. The annual gathering of long knockers will be contested Oct. 24-28, at The Palms Golf Club in Mesquite, Nev., attracting male and female contestants from more than 125 countries.

"I really don't have any expectations," said Welch, 23, a former All-American at Washington State University, where she recorded 11 collegiate wins. "This is the U.S. Open or the World Championship to some of these girls and they train for it all year. This is their big event. It will be cool for me to see what it's all about."

Welch, who averaged tee shots between 270-280 yards on the Duramed FUTURES Tour this year, qualified for the championship in March by winning the RE/MAX Long Drive contest during the Tour's season-opening event in Lakeland, Fla. She recorded a poke of 287 yards off the first tee at the tournament's host site, Cleveland Heights Golf Course, to win a cash prize and the all-expenses paid trip to Nevada.

But Welch's driver was standard equipment at that event. She scored the winning shot using a Ping G5 driver with a nine-degree loft and 441/4-inch Aldila NV regular-flex 65-gram graphite shaft. She will take her trusty G5 to the competition. That faithful club has logged drives of 330 to 340 yards on "downwind, downhill holes in thin air," says Welch with a laugh. But she also will take a new weapon in her arsenal.

Welch is experimenting with a new Ping Rapture driver with a nine-degree loft and 48-inch Aldila NV lightweight 60-gram stiff graphite shaft. Standard equipment at world-class, long-drive events showcase the latest in driver technology -- putting ultra-lightweight and super-stiff, over-length shafts into the hands of players who already can send a golf ball soaring. Last year's women's RE/MAX World Long Drive champion, Stacey Shinnick of Encino, Calif., juiced her winning shot to 311 yards and 21 inches.

"This new club is 2.5 inches longer than my usual club and when I pulled it out of the box, I just started laughing," said Welch, who is 5-foot-6 and weighs 130 pounds. "It's just a whole different part of golf that I've never been around. I'll try not to hurt myself."

Power hitters in world-class, long-drive events have nicknames like "Big Cat" and "The Beast." Male contestants typically need blasts of 350 to 360 yards just to advance into the qualifying rounds. But in addition to bragging rights, big hitters have an eye on the big business of these contests. This year's event features a $500,000 purse and will be televised in a 90-minute highlight show on ESPN and ESPN2 during the Christmas holiday.

Welch and the other hopefuls in the 40-player women's division will begin qualifying on Tuesday, with the finalists meeting on the tee Saturday, Oct. 28. She will be joined by 2006 LPGA rookie Karin Sjodin, a former All-American at Oklahoma State University. Sjodin, of Gothenburg, Sweden, played on the 2005 Duramed FUTURES Tour and now leads the LPGA Tour in driving distance with an average of 284.5 yards off the tee.

Other LPGA Tour and Duramed FUTURES Tour alums qualifying for the event are Sally Dee of Tampa, Fla., and Patty Hayes of Davenport, Fla. In addition, FUTURES alums include: Jo D. Duncan (1995-1997) of Overland, Mo.; Pam (Crikelair) Garrity (2004-2006) of Jupiter, Fla.; and Liz Uthoff (2004) of St. Louis, Mo. Nancy Abiecunas, 24, of Loveland, Colo., who has entered the 2007 Duramed FUTURES Tour Qualifying Tournament in November, also is in the field. She was the 2003 RE/MAX World Long Drive champion.

Welch says her family will make the trip to watch her compete. Growing up with three older brothers, the slender player said she learned early to "swing as I hard as I could" to be competitive against the boys. But the Californian doesn't know why she hits it so long.

"I'm not really a big girl," said Welch, who has advanced into the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament from Nov. 29 through Dec. 3, in Daytona Beach, Fla. "I don't do anything to hit it longer. Maybe it has just come through years of grooving."

Grooving, indeed. Grooving a big shot right down the fairway with a potential to earn the big prize as one of the world's longest hitters.

"I'm getting excited and I have no idea what to expect," added Welch. "But I'll give it a try, for sure."