Torquay golfer Jason Loftus invited to play overseas

TORQUAY golfer Jason Loftus is keen to test his long game against the rest of the world’s big hitters. Earlier this month, Mr Loftus, 51, won the master’s division of the Australian Long Drive Championship, held at Stonecutters Ridge Golf Club in Sydney.

As a result, he has been invited to play at the Pacific Rim Long Series event in the Cook Islands on June 9, as well as the World Long Drive Championship to be held on the border of Texas and Oklahoma in the United States in September.

Mr Loftus has been a member of the Torquay Golf Club for about 20 years, and trained four times a week at The Range facility at the Curlewis Golf Club for the Sydney event. Long drive is popular in the US – the world championships play for a prize of at least $50,000 – and Mr Loftus said he hoped the inaugural Australian championship and the possible re-establishment of an Australian tour would increase local interest in the sport.

“There used to be an Australian long drive tour but sponsors fell away and it didn’t continue, but it’s got a lot bigger now in America and New Zealand.” His 267-metre shot to win the Australian Long Drive Championship was in tough conditions, with an uphill fairway and a 40-kilometre headwind, and much shorter than the 330-metre drives he was hitting earlier in the contest, but was still 19 metres further ahead than fellow finalist and previous Australian champion Graeme McCurdy.

“Graeme and I hit two or three way further than the one I won it with, but mine apparently hit the rope and ran back in and was the only one recorded long enough to win it, so I sort of got lucky as well.” Mr Loftus said Mr McCurdy, who is ranked 34th in the world, gave him some useful advice ahead of the World Championship.

“He came up to me and said ‘you’ll go really well in the States – the ball flight’s good and because the air’s thinner, you’ll hit a lot further’, so I was excited to hear that.”