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 film, 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.”
