"The next thing I know, I've got the whole (PGA) Tour standing behind me," says Hamm, who later hits his one allotted drive 392 yards and walks away with the trophy.
It doesn't take long for Hamm's 300-yard 6-irons to draw a crowd. Next to him is sweet-swinging Ben Crenshaw and down the row are Joey Sindelar and Curtis Strange. Hamm admits to being a little nervous while warming up on the driving range. The silver casserole dish-shaped trophy is inscribed with the words "1992 Phoenix Open Long Drive Champion." "This is a true story," Hamm says as he prepares to explain the trophy sitting behind his desk. Longball I see as a long-term product line. "This company's not this one-shot-in-the-dark infomercial like the Miracle Mop. "My goal in this whole thing is that some day I'm in an airplane and somebody is reading a magazine and they're like, `Longball, it's synonymous with Top-Flite or synonymous with Titleist,' " Hamm says. Hamm expects to double or triple that this year. Thanks to a creative infomercial and general word of mouth, Longball did about $5 million in sales last year.
He hit the 473-yard record drive with another of his clubs, the Jack Hammer, at a driving range south of Denver on July 20, 1993. "The average golfer doesn't care if the club is legal," is his standard response. The holes, however, have prevented the clubs from being certified by the United States Golf Association, barring them from official events. That means less wind resistance and a higher club-head speed, which means longer shots. Hoping to blend his engineering degree with his passion for sports, Hamm in 1986 founded Longball Sports Inc., which makes the Air Hammer, a $250 metal driver that has six nail-size holes through the clubface and an exhaust hole in the back. Hamm, who holds the Guinness record for the world's longest golf drive (473 yards), is well-built but nothing that automatically suggests he could power even short irons amazing distances with accuracy and consistency, while trying to find a niche for his small business in the booming golf industry. When Jack Hamm says he's banned from most driving ranges, the first reaction is a low-throated snicker and an exaggerated eye roll.Īnd then he unleashes an 8-iron that sails high over a 50-foot fence about 250 yards away.To borrow one of Hamm's favorite phrases, this is a true story.
0 kommentar(er)
