Golfer goes through pain barrier!

WARRINGTON golfer Paul Slater went through the pain barrier in the European Long Drive Golf championships – competing with a suspected broken hand.
Paul, who holds the world record for the longest drive – a whopping 884 yards, managed to get down to the final 16 but was beaten by a 22-year-old rank outsider at the TSG European Long Drive Golf Championships held at Close House Hotel & Golf club in Northumberland.
Tom Hollingworth, from Doncaster, who was at his first long drive event, managed to thrash the cream of the world’s players with his last ball beating Slater, the current England champion and holder of the current longest drive record. Slater got down to the final 16, and despite a suspected broken hand, bravely fought through the pain to compete.
Tom who recently got made redundant from his day job as a Geologist and relied on his parents to drive him to the event, had simply hoped to qualify, never expecting to take the trophy and go on to play in Las Vegas!
The aim of long driving is to hit the golf ball as hard as possible, with players occasionally pulverising their golf balls, and even snapping the shaft of the club.
It is all about power and control, and it’s very different to golf as we know it, with loud music music to accompany the competition. With a reputation for big personalities, the Long Drivers are known for keeping the crowds entertained with the sport attracting a huge following of players and spectators across the world.
In total, approximately 100 of Europe’s best long drivers competed at the finals. Including World #3 in 2004, England’s Adam Stacey; Europe #1 Sweden’s Mikael Lindblom; World #6 England’s Joe Miller and World #2 South African Dewald Gouws.