LAKESIDE - Long driver Jason Zuback, nicknamed Golfzilla, ripped Crowbush Cove's 15th hole during his long drive exhibition Sunday in Lakeside thanks to several near orbit launches, some over 450 yards.
It was part of the Legends of Golf tournament.
Today, Canadian Mike Weir tees off against Vijay Singh at 10 a.m. in the competition that pits two top PGA players against each other on the P.E.I. golf course.
Zuback, who looks more like a professional wrestler than a golfer thanks to daily workouts and 18-inch biceps, pounded ball after ball onto the 15th green. He wore a head-mounted microphone, talking to the crowd and describing his shots.
Using a variety of clubs, including his weapon of choice, a monster 4.5-degree loft competition long driver with a head like a shovel, Zuback's hour-long show had most of the crowd, some 600 strong, ringing the tee clapping, shaking their heads in disbelief and exclaiming even a few "oh, man's''.
So what's his best tip to duffers for wicked length?
"Relax over the golf ball. Get rid of any tension in their upper body, especially their arms and their hands,'' said Zuback, a five-time world long-drive champion, after the exhibition.
"Tension throughout the arms really restricts their being able to turn their torso and turn their shoulders. Tension's a real killer.''
Other parts of his show included whacking 345-yard drives with a putter, hitting off the toe, heel and back of drivers and irons, smashing packaged golf balls 200 to 300 yards, driving a ball through a three-quarter inch piece of wooden waferboard and smacking drives off high tees like T-ball mounts while standing on a large inflatable physio ball.
Keeping the show fresh is paramount because he appears in about 99 events per year.
It also means near-constant polishing.
"I just think of different things to do and practise. A lot of it's pretty hard to do. I make it look easy, but it's actually quite difficult."
Zuback, a former pharmacist who lives in Calgary, Alta., won his first long-drive competition in 1996, the top-level World Long Drive Championship.
It was worth a cool $35,000 US.
Then came more titles, including a record fifth last year and a career change.
"I tried it and the first time I went to the world championship I won the whole thing. So I had a lot of success early on. I came back to defend my title, defended it four times in a row, almost five in (a) row, and it became a career for me as opposed to being in the pharmacy."
After a break in Calgary, Zuback's off to showcase his work at the Montreal Open August 13-19 then the Sorenson Champions Challenge in Utah.
Wow.....i can see Kookk moulding into this....
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Tue Oct 25, 2011 11:37 am
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