The man with the golden swing
Long-drive champion hopes to get more Newfoundlanders involved in the sport
Looking ahead
Bram Churchill’s career in longdrive began in an unexpected way. For most of his life he had been very active in sports. After years of competing in slo-pitch, he had developed three degenerated discs in his back.
“The doctors advised me that running bases, or running to outfield, if I slipped and fell I could end up being paralyzed,” said Churchill in a recent interview with TC Media.
He decided to give up playing softball right then and there.
In 2002, Churchill went to a golf tournament in Gander, which featured a long-drive competition. His fiancée, Vicki Peddle, was with him and encouraged him to give it a shot.
“She said, ‘ Bram, why don’t you enter?’ I said, ‘Vicki these are all young kids.’ She said, ‘ You hit the ball a long way, so why don’t you just enter the competition?’ I won that in 2002 and haven’t lost since.”
Churchill says he has never placed any lower than third in any major competition.
“So I gave up playing softball, and then I took up swinging golf and I swing a golf club at 129 miles an hour.”
Churchill has developed a different swing style to accommodate his back injury.
“It took me about a year to work on a swing that wouldn’t interfere with my back, and it’s a bit unorthodox, but it works,” he said.
His stance is a little closer than the average golfer and he takes a three-quarter swing, not a full one.
“I don’t come right up over my shoulders; I come back more in a baseball swing,” said Churchill.
The result is less pressure on his spine, and a bit of extra attention from spectators.
“The first time I went to the worlds the camera crew kind of picked up on it. People said, ‘He’s not going to hit the ball like that, he can’t hit the ball standing that way.’
“I hit the ball perfectly straight.” Churchill was a highway enforcement officer for 30 years. He has been retired for five years now.
At 62 years of age, he is soon reaching retirement from his sport as well, he said.
He is hoping for someone to replace him on Team Canada, preferably someone from Newfoundland.
“It’s a big commitment. I hit 400 golf balls every second night on No. 2 in Terra Nova,” he said.
“Practice is the key.”
It’s the most enjoyable sport I’ve ever been into. The friends you make, from the different teams and different countries, are friends that you’ll have for the
rest of your life.
When travelling down south for tournaments, the air is much more humid, and one has to be prepared to play in hot weather, he said.
“You’ve got to keep hitting and hitting and hitting until you just can’t hit anymore, because you’ve got to be able to take the pressure of hitting in very high temperatures.”
One of the benefits of competing in long drive is being able to travel, said Churchill. But even when he’s far away from home, Newfoundland seems to follow him.
“No matter where you go in the world, you’re always going to find Newfoundlanders.”
Churchill was in Trinidad and Tobago several years ago for a competition. He was practising for a night show when someone told him there was a crowd of New- foundlanders in the stands.
When Churchill stepped up to hit, he saw a large Newfoundland flag in the crowd.
“I’d say it was 12 feet long,” he said.
Some Newfoundlanders were working there at the time and knew he was playing, so they came to watch.
“And they showed up every night for three or four nights.”
Despite the support, surprisingly, the interest in long drive is not as big in Newfoundland as it is elsewhere in Canada, said Churchill.
“I know the interest is there, but for some reason I can’t draw on that interest; I just can’t seem to get the people involved.”
He said he has approached many corporations for sponsorship and they say they’ll get back to him but nothing ever happens.
“I’m ranked No. 1 senior in Canada and I’m No. 1 senior in the world, and I can’t get a sponsor in Newfoundland.”
Regardless, Churchill loves what he’s doing.
“It’s the most enjoyable sport I’ve ever been into. The friends you make, from the different teams and different countries, are friends that you’ll have for the rest of your life.”
With Team Canada, Churchill said he’s had a great run and would have no problem if they want to bring in someone younger.
“They said it’s not up to us. The decision for you to leave this team is up to you. When you feel you’re not competitive anymore, then if you want to step aside, then you can step aside, and when you step aside you’ll go into the management side of it.”
So far, he’s still hitting the ball farther than a lot of the younger kids.
“They still want me to stay with them.”
Going into his 11th year, Churchill has been on Team Canada longer than anyone else.
“I’ve been very fortunate. For a Newfoundlander, a guy that’s from a small outport, from one little family. I can’t ask for any more.”
Churchill intends to keep at it as long as he is able, but he would like to see a fellow Newfoundlander take his place.
He was hoping enough participants would show up at a recent Canadian national long-drive qualifying event at Terra Nova Golf Resort.
“ILDC (International Long Drive Challenge) and Golf Digest Canada were going to let me take eight men, four women, and four seniors to the Canadian finals in September in Ontario,” said Churchill.
The qualifiers would go through the Canadian finals and then a selection process to make up Team Canada East.
“I guess I was fantasizing. What I was kind of hoping was that I would get enough to qualify, and good hitters, that the Team Canada East team would be made up of a senior Newfoundlander, a woman from Newfoundland, and three open hitters from Newfoundland. Nothing would have given me more honour than to have Team Canada East made up of all Newfoundlanders. And I think it’s possible,” he said.
Churchill said if the interest is there next year, he’ll try again.
“I’m sure within the next couple of years that I can make up Team Canada East — and I’ll coach it if I have to — of all Newfoundlanders.
“Can you imagine just having one Team Canada and having five Newfoundlanders represent Canada at a world championship? That’s my goal. If I could see that then I’d be happy to retire, I think.”