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Golf is often a game where a champion is determined by a matter of inches: a putt that stops one inch from the cup, or a drive that goes out of bounds by maybe the width of a putter.
Inches also can determine a long drive champion, and that was the case Saturday evening at the seventh annual Tennessee Shoot-Out at Graysburg Hills Golf Course.
Rock Hicks of Florence, Ky., and Vince Howell of Brentwood, Calif., each uncorked a drive at the No. 1 hole at Graysburg that landed 381 yards away.
But Hicks was crowned champ and took home the $10,000 first prize as his shot was 381 yds., 2 ft. 8 inches from the tee, while Howell’s blast was 381 yds., 1 ft., 1 1/4 inches away.
“When I hit it, I knew it had a chance,” Hicks smiled after receiving congratulations from the other long drivers who were on hand trying for a piece of the purse that was over $35,000. “You just know when you hit it good, and I thought I hit that one pretty hard. It hit along the right side and got some bounce. It was just barely long enough to beat Vinny (Howell).”
For Hicks, it was his second victory as a long driver, his first one coming some two years ago in Orlando. The four-year long drive professional said he was especially happy to win the Tennessee Shoot-Out, because “it’s one of our best events.”
“The competition here is always so good, and the folks here do such a good job of running the tournament,” he said.
Hicks has another job, working for Cincinnati Bell, but he does nine or ten long drive events each year. He’s been playing golf all his life, and tried his hand on the pro mini-tours for a while as well as serving as a club professional. Hicks was not totally unfamiliar with this area. He went to college and played golf at Lee University near Chattanooga.
“I played college golf against Bart Hartsell when Bart was playing for Tusculum,” he smiled as he adjusted his Cincinnati Reds baseball cap. “I do the long driving thing primarily for fun. It’s a tight-knit group. We travel around together and support each other. It’s sort of a brotherhood, I guess.”
Over 40 professionals were on hand for the event, which is sponsored by Laughlin Memorial Hospital, and the funds realized from the Pro/Am which was held Friday and the Shoot-Out benefit scholarship programs that have been designed to provide financial support for worthy students entering specific healthcare professions.
The Shoot-Out was a day-long affair, beginning at 7:30 a.m. Saturday with the champion not being realized until about 12 hours later. The group was cut to 24 for the quarterfinals, and then cut again to 16 for the semifinals. That group was then chopped down to the final eight for the finals competition.
Each golfer is given six balls to hit, and they must land within a grid that was drawn out along the No. 1 fairway at Graysburg Hills’ Knobs Course. Balls that land outside that grid don’t count.
Ironically, the longest ball hit all day came from a golfer that didn’t make it to the final round. Jerimie Montgomery of Plain City, Utah, hit a ball in the quarterfinals that finished rolling an astounding 421 yds. from the tee. Another ball he hit was 401 yds. in the grid. But unfortunately for Montgomery, he was eliminated in the semifinals after five of the six balls he hit landed outside the grid, and the one ball that was good was only 349 yds. away.
Kevin Bullard of Cedartown, Ga., finished third behind Hicks and Howell with a blast of 376 yds. Fourth place went to Brooks Baldwin of Mendenhall, Miss., (371 yds.), and fifth place was won by Derrick Hines of Arvada, Colorado (360 yds.). The other three finalists were Tom Roskos of Sharon, Pa., Patrick Hopper of Gaffney, S.C., and Dave Gureckis of Bridgewater, Mass. | 
