Thank you, Laura Davies.

Thank you, Sophie Gustafson.

Here at my favorite LPGA tournament, the Safeway Classic, the two of you were among the heavyweights in a memorable long drive contest held late Thursday afternoon. Even though this was part of the pre-tournament activity and the 54-hole event hadn’t even started, I walked away from Columbia Edgewater Country Club thinking, “Wow, this is exactly what the game is supposed to be -- fun, entertaining, captivating, compelling, full of laughs and smiles and goodwill toward golf.”

Davies and Gustafson were joined by nine members of the Women’s Long Drive Association in a long ball contest that offered a first prize of $10,000, the biggest check in the short history of women’s long drive.

The winner, with a 332-yard blast, was Lee (“The Blonde Bomber”) Brandon, the 2001 women’s world champion and a former strength coach with the NFL’s New York Jets. Brandon lives in Los Angeles.

Davies finished second at 306 yards, while current world champion Stacey Shinnick of San Diego was third at 305 yards.

Brandon is strong, Shinnick is tall (6-foot-2) and Davies is just plain talented. While Brandon and Shinnick were swinging 50-inch drivers, Davies used her standard 45-inch driver. Although Davies may have sacrificed distance with a shorter driver, she clearly did not surrender any accuracy.

Hitting nine balls in two rounds of competition, Davies maneuvered eight of them inside a grid (fairway, if you will) that was 40 yards wide. Each of the 11 contestants counted only her single longest drive.

For the record, Brandon used an 8-degree Nike 400 driver, Shinnick an 8.5-degree Callaway Great Big Bertha II driver, and Davies a 7-degree Srixon XX10 driver.

The winning shaft? Brandon’s driver had an XXX Pro LD shaft from AccuFLEX.

Davies was remarkably accurate, inspiring Jay Golden, the intrepid master of ceremonies, to say, “She’s never been in the rough in her life.” That comment drew a loud laugh from Davies, known at times for her wild driving.

Actually the straightest driver in the long drive shootout was Gustafson. In a sport in which about one-third of the drives hit the grid and two-thirds miss, Gustafson split the fairway with every drive she hit. Her longest, 295 yards, was good for fourth place.

In my opinion, Gustafson ranks right behind Annika Sorenstam as the world’s best overall driver of a golf ball, man or women. She is both long and accurate.

I kept thinking of the recent Solheim Cup, in which Davies and Gustafson helped the Europeans whip the Americans. This European team is on the verge of becoming a juggernaut, and the Americans might start practicing their concession speeches.

With such an emphasis on distance in golf today, courses (including those used in women’s professional events) are becoming longer. The future of golf? The longest players likely will survive, the shortest surely will be mightily challenged.

I like the Europeans and their swashbuckling long-ball approach to golf.

“I had a great time,” said Davies of the long drive event. “The fans (400 or so) were really enthusiastic.”

Davies didn’t have to take part in this event. As runner-up, she won $2,500, which is peanuts in her world. However, she seemed genuinely interested in promoting women’s golf and women’s long drive.

I asked myself how many PGA Tour players would do this, and I produced an answer with a statistic margin of error of perhaps five percent: ZERO.

OK, maybe I’m exaggerating. Maybe good-guy Chris Smith or long-drive fanatic Dennis Paulson would participate.

Anyway, Davies and Gustafson should be heartily congratulated. This long-drive slugfest was another sign that women’s golf can be a flamboyant sport worth observing.

Just watch me now, baby.

• • •

James Achenbach is a Golfweek senior writer. To reach him e-mail jachenbach@golfweek.com.

Date Posted: 9/26/2003