By Tim Hipps
FMWRC Public Affairs
FORT MEADE, Md. – Defending champion Ryan Hixson of the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy Family member Kyle Blakely secured the last two spots in the 2008 Military Long Drive Championship presented by 7UP with a 1-2 finish in the final regional qualifier Sept. 26 at The Courses Fort Meade.
Last year, Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Hixson won the inaugural Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command-sponsored event at Mesquite, Nev., which earned him the title of military long drive champion, $10,000, and a spot in the open division of the 2008 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship on Oct. 25 in Mesquite.
Hixson won this year’s regional competition at Fort Meade with a drive of 380 yards in a two-man finale against Blakely, who finished second with a 339-yard drive in the finals. His longest drive of the event was 370 yards.
Blakely, a 21-year-old son of a retired Navy Petty Officer 1st Class will compete against Hixson in both the military and open divisions at Mesquite.
A junior majoring in professional golf management at Clemson University, Blakely qualified for the open division finals of the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship with a 409-yard blast at Bryan Park Golf Course in Browns Summit, N.C., on Aug. 9.
By virtue of his runner-up finish at Fort Meade, he will join Hixson, Army Staff Sgt. Bryan King, Idaho Army National Guard Sgt. Ben Wood, Air Force Staff Sgt. Carl Taylor and Army family member Brandon Boehmer in the Military Long Drive Championship Oct. 23 in Mesquite.
Before advancing to regional competition, each of the six finalists won one of 27 local competitions waged between July 11 and Aug. 31. They earned an all-expenses-paid week in Mesquite, where they will compete for $10,000 and an exemption into the 2009 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship.
King and Taylor finished in second and fourth places respectively at the 2007 Military Long Drive Championship in Mesquite.
This year, King drove from his duty station in Bamberg to Heidelberg, Germany, where he won the European region with a 355-yard drive. Taylor punched his second ticket to Mesquite with a 379-yard blast at Cheyenne Shadows Golf Club on Fort Carson, Colo.
Wood won his local qualifier with a drive of 386 yards at Eagles Pride Golf Course on Fort Lewis, Wash., and finished runner-up to Taylor at Fort Carson with a 364-yard drive.
Boehmer exemplified the Army Family Covenant’s mission of providing for military family members. A youth sports coordinator at Camp Zama, Japan, he is married to an active duty Soldier, which earned him the right to participate in the event. Boehmer won the Asian region with a 364-yard drive at Yongsan Garrison’s Seongnam Golf Course in Seoul, South Korea.
Blakely became a quick study in the sport of long drive while interning with the Long Drivers of America.
“Honestly, I look at it almost the same as if you’re on a par 5 tee box – you’re trying to hit the fairway,” he said. “The only difference is you’ve got six balls, which is a little nicer. When you hit it 400 yards or however far you may hit it, it’s a little more difficult to control it, but the main focus is to get your spot, hit it, and hit it in the grid just like hitting it in the fairway.”
As a seventh-grader, Blakely began playing on his high school golf team. He was the No. 1 player on the squad his freshman through senior seasons. He received a grant-in-aid to play golf at Wofford College, but transferred after one semester to Clemson, where he now works at The Walker Course.
“I would love to win the world, but as soon as I graduate, I want to open up my own driving range,” said Blakely, who launched a 370-yard drive in round seven at Fort Meade. “I would love to continue holding long-drive tournaments. I think it can be a bigger sport than it is. I think there are a lot of people out there who [can] hit the ball longer than they think they do and could actually make something out of it. I just want to make the long drive sport bigger and open up my own driving range, hold tournaments there, and give lessons.”
In the meantime, he would like to make a name for himself at the finals in Mesquite, which the military division opened to dependents this year.
“I’m excited and looking forward to the trip,” Blakely said. “It’s going to be a good time, no matter what. I appreciate the military making that rule so I can play.”
Hixson, on the other hand, plans to defend his military crown against the young contender and try to hang with the big boys in the open division, too.
“I thrive on the competition; I love it,” said Hixson, who at Fort Meade saved his best drive for last. “You have to raise your level of game, and that’s pretty much what happened.”
Hixson, stationed at Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, Fla., won the local qualifier at MacDill Air Force Base.
“I represent the Coast Guard, and that’s a big part of it,” Hixson said. “A lot of people don’t know who the Coast Guard is or what they do. Through my endeavors, it might bring a little awareness.
“I want to win the open and the military,” said Hixson, 26, who measures 6-feet-4, 230 pounds. “That’s my goal.”
Hixson prevailed on a rainy day at Fort Meade, and expects favorable conditions in Mesquite to boost his performance.
“You figure we’re at sea level here [234 feet] and it is 1,600 feet out there,” he said. “The air’s going to be thinner, so that 380 [yard drive] is probably going to go 400 out there. And in the open division, I think only seven guys hit over 400 last year, so that’s a pretty big ball.”
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Cutlines for photos:
0893-RyanHixsonDrives.jpg: U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Hixson earns a berth in the finals of the 2008 Military Long Drive Championship presented by 7UP with a 380-yard drive in a regional qualifier Sept. 26 at The Courses Fort Meade, Md. Hixson, who won the inaugural event last year, will compete against five others for the title of military long drive champion, $10,000, and an exemption into the open division finals of the 2009 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship on Oct. 23 in Mesquite, Nev. Two days later, he also will compete in the open division.
Photo by Tim Hipps, FMWRC Public Affairs
0893-BlakelysWatchHixsonDrive.jpg: Military dependent Kyle Blakely (center) and his father, a retired Navy Petty Officer 1st Class, watch 2007 Military Long Drive champion Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Hixson earn a return trip to Mesquite, Nevada, to compete in the 2008 Military Long Drive Championship presented by 7UP during a regional qualifier Sept. 26 at The Courses Fort Meade, Md. Hixson won the event with a 380-yard drive. Blakely also earned a berth in the Military Long Drive Championship by finishing second at Fort Meade with a long drive of 370 yards. The six-man Military Long Drive Championship is scheduled for Oct. 23 in Mesquite. Both of the big hitters also will compete in the open division on Oct. 25.
Photo by Tim Hipps, FMWRC Public Affairs
0893-BlakelyDrives.jpg: Military dependent Kyle Blakely, a son of a retired Sailor who exemplifies the Army Family Covenant’s mission of supporting military Family members, earns a berth in the finals of the 2008 Military Long Drive Championship presented by 7UP with a second-place finish in a regional qualifier Sept. 26 at The Courses Fort Meade, Md. Blakely, a junior majoring in professional golf management at Clemson University, will compete against five others in the Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation-sponsored military division of the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship Oct. 23 in Mesquite, Nev. Two days later, he also will compete in the open division. His longest drive at Fort Meade was 370 yards.
Contact:
William Bradner
Deputy Public Affairs Officer
Family and MWR Command
william.bradner@fmwrc.army.mil
