Local world long drive champion Jamie Sadlowski will be returning to the tee in pursuit of another world title next week.
Sadlowski will leave for Mesquite, Nevada on Friday for the qualifying rounds of the 2013 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship, and after picking up world championships in 2008 and 2009, Sadlowski has eyes on his third title.
“You go down there with expectations to win of course,” he said. “The last couple of years it’s not that I’ve gotten worse or anything, it’s just that the competition has got better. If you get a wind like (Sunday) where it differs and switches that’s huge in our sport. A 5 mph wind can change the flight of a golf ball by 15 or 20 yards, which is huge when you get deep in that competition . . . Conditions do play a huge factor, I would say the last couple of years conditions haven’t been favourable for me. When I won in ’08 and ’09 things kind of aligned, so you’ve got to be good that week, you’ve got to be consistent, but you also need a little bit of help and a little bit of good luck.”
The qualifying round will feature 192 different competitors over three days, and if Sadlowski manages to finish in the top-eight, he will advance to the finals, which will be held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Oct. 30, a first for the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship.
“Qualifying is mostly family and friends, but the finals will be at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway with grandstands,” he said, adding that October is Long Drive Month on the Golf Channel, which will be airing the finals live. “It’s a good way to get fans there.”
Sadlowski said that it is nice to be able to represent St. Paul, and that he enjoys the local support he gets throughout the Lakeland community.
“From before I won until now nothing has changed. It’s still the same old town, I still get treated the same and I still treat people the same,” said Sadlowski, he said, adding that occasionally people come to ask about his experiences as a world long drive champion. “I try to give that back to people here if they have questions or stuff like that.”
Sadlowski added that he will be using the time he has left before the qualifying rounds to make sure he is in peak condition to perform.
“Now it’s just time to stay healthy. I leave Friday so I’ll head to the city a couple days into the week here and get come chiropractic done and just make sure the body is dialed in,” he said. “Once I get down there I’ll practice for a few days and then get right into it.”
