Putt for dough? Don't tell this long driver
St. Petersburg Times; St. Petersburg, Fla.; May 14, 2002; BOB HARIG;

Abstract:
Unlike typical long bombers John Daly on the PGA Tour or Laura Davies on the LPGA - both of whom wrap the club behind their head and swing violently, all but coming out of their shoes through impact - [Lee Brandon] has a slow, textbook move that focuses on perfect spine alignment.

For the record, Brandon uses a Nike 400cc prototype driver, the Top-Flite XL Super Long ball, an Accuflex 1X shaft (47 inches), has a swing speed of 104-110 mph and a ball speed of 160-170 mph. (The latter is equal to or greater than most PGA Tour pros.)

Brandon's success hitting a golf ball is more remarkable considering she nearly lost her left arm in 1979 when she severed the brachial artery in her left elbow. Brandon fell through a small window attempting to push open a locker room door. During surgery, her heart stopped. An aspiring Olympic pentathlete at the time, her athletic career was over.

It's enough to make a grown man (or woman) cry. Golfers search in vain for the game's holy grail, the ability to hit the ball as far as possible. We'll buy a fancy new driver, search for a hot ball, swing with all our might, hoping to get a few extra yards.

Then along comes someone fairly new to the game, a woman who barely has 30 rounds to her name, who can belt drives 300-plus yards.

Lee Brandon hits drives farther than any woman in the world. Brandon won the women's division of the World Long Drive competition in October with a drive of 291 yards, 3 inches. Another drive went more than 300 yards but failed to stay in the landing area.

"I used to make fun of golfers," Brandon, 6 feet and 190 pounds, said in a phone interview from Los Angeles. "But I can't describe how much fun I'm having. People love to see the long ball."

They can see Brandon today at the Countryside Golf Practice and Learning Center (on McMullen Booth Road in Clearwater, just north of State Road 580), a stop on a 10-city tour for Spalding's new line of Top-Flite XL 3000 golf balls.

Brandon, of course, is touting the golf ball, but there's a lot more to her success than that. Her background is in strength and conditioning, and in 1990 she became the first female strength coach in the NFL with the New York Jets.

Brandon, who works as a model and a motivational speaker, got involved with golf while working as a fitness instructor.

She often worked with clients who had golf-related injuries and once accompanied a golfer to a driving range. Brandon decided to take a few swings, and she was a natural.

"Like Mark Twain, I thought golf was a great way to ruin a walk," said Brandon, 40. "I didn't understand it and respect it. It takes playing it and realizing how psychologically impossible it is. That's what makes it so great. Five years ago, I didn't understand that. I was in an uneducated place about golf. I didn't understand you could burn calories on the driving range. You gain a deep respect for the game."

Brandon got together with instructor Rex Flory, who told her she could be a force in long drive competitions. She started entering contests last year.

"He told me he had never seen such a naturally gifted swing in a woman," Brandon said.

Unlike typical long bombers John Daly on the PGA Tour or Laura Davies on the LPGA - both of whom wrap the club behind their head and swing violently, all but coming out of their shoes through impact - Brandon has a slow, textbook move that focuses on perfect spine alignment.

"Posture equals power," she said. "There are a lot of people who don't have perfect posture. I'm able to repeat a swing for eight hours in a row because my swing plane is based on posture.

"I have a slow, deliberate drawback and I focus solely on spine position and really trying to deliver a blow to the ball."

For the record, Brandon uses a Nike 400cc prototype driver, the Top-Flite XL Super Long ball, an Accuflex 1X shaft (47 inches), has a swing speed of 104-110 mph and a ball speed of 160-170 mph. (The latter is equal to or greater than most PGA Tour pros.)

Brandon's success hitting a golf ball is more remarkable considering she nearly lost her left arm in 1979 when she severed the brachial artery in her left elbow. Brandon fell through a small window attempting to push open a locker room door. During surgery, her heart stopped. An aspiring Olympic pentathlete at the time, her athletic career was over.

At least for a time. Though it took seven years for the feeling to return in her left hand, Brandon embarked on other sporting endeavors.

Through physical therapy, she became involved with strength and conditioning. That led to being a strength and conditioning coach on the Olympic team and later her stint with the NFL's Jets.

Now she is into golf, and though she can hit the ball a mile, Brandon said conquering the game is a long way off.

"I have a lot of potential," she said. "I can hit my sand wedge 120 yards. But the issue is not my full swing."

Brandon said her lowest score is 82, which says something about the importance of the other aspects of the game.

Nonetheless, it would be difficult to argue with her approach to hitting the long ball.

"No. 1 would be equipment. You have to have the right equipment for you," she said. "No. 2 is all about posture equals power. That is how you are able to generate higher clubhead speed. The third thing is to find a coach who speaks your language. The reason Tiger (Woods) is who he is is because he was willing to go back to the drawing board and reinvent himself. A good coach is important."

[Illustration]
Caption: Lee Brandon drives the golf ball.; Photo: PHOTO, Special to the Times

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