A long-held rivalry is set to be resurrected as an attempt is made on golf’s world long-drive record next month in Wiltshire.
There is little love lost between two of the powerhouses of British long driving – current world record holder Paul ‘St George’ Slater and Phil ‘The Power’ Naylor – and their enmity is set to reach new heights when they come face to face at Wroughton Airfield, Swindon, when the London Golf Show hosts another attempt to set a new world best long drive.
Last February, at London City Airport, both participated in an attempt to wrest the long drive world record away from Tour pro Stuart Appleby.
Naylor achieved what he thought was a new best at 708 yards, but while he was whisked away to speak to the media, Slater outdid him with a stunning effort of 720 yards.
For Naylor, it simply added insult to injury. In a sport where sponsorship is hard to come by Naylor has had to sit by for the last 12 months while Slater is coveted by the media.
He said: "Slater wasn’t using a conventional driver to hit the ball. It was legal, yes, but only just. It had only 2½ degrees of loft and a 50-inch shaft.
"If I sound bitter, maybe I am. I know I could match or better that effort on my day. I’ve held the Guinness world record for the longest carry of a golf ball – 352 yards – and there is a lot of luck involved in the way a golf ball will roll out on an airport runway.
"It’ll be a good opportunity to put things right when we go head to head again."
On that point, Warrington-based Slater agreed. But that was all he would concede.
"Naylor had exactly the same opportunity as me at London City Airport. He could have used a club with the same technical specification but chose not to.
"If he feels he can better 720 yards then all I say is ‘bring it on’. I’m not afraid of him or his entourage. If he really feels he’s better than me he should come out and say so to my face."
And to throw a further cat among already flustered pigeons, the latest long-drive sensation to come out of these shores, Adam Stacey, will also be swinging a club at the Wiltshire venue.
Stacey, 22, had not entered a long-drive contest until his visit to last year’s London Golf Show, where he had a go for fun on the Nike simulator.
He was amazed to out-drive many of the professionals and was thrust into the national and international limelight when, initially, he finished second in a Long Drivers of Europe event in Scotland and then finished as the only European in the top six at the world final in the USA – to which both Naylor and Slater had failed to qualify.
He walked away with the third prize of $30,000 dollars and was just a yard shy of increasing his purse by another $10,000.
His rise from club pro to a place among the world’s golf power elite has taken him a little by surprise.
He added: "I always believed I could achieve something. But I didn’t imagine I’d be going down this route.
"It’s still my ambition to play on the Tour, but I certainly won’t stop long driving now. It’s possible to make a career out of that – and you need money behind you if you want to earn a place on the Tour."
London Golf Show officials are still hopeful of increasing the field further with the inclusion of a top-rated, USA-based long driver and a sprinkling of other UK-based pros.
But it will be the battle for British supremacy – and a possible new world record – which will be the focus of attention on April 8.
The London Golf Show returns to ExCeL from April 27-30, 2006. For more information or to book tickets, visit www.londongolfshow.com.
Contact:
David Garlant, Dave Bowers or Lee Todd
08700 330550
david.garlant@prcpr.co.uk, dave@prcpr.co.uk or lee@prcpr.co.uk
