While we’re dead in the throws of a frigid winter in the greater Chicago area, the golf season is sneaking up quickly. As I dream of warmer weather, green grass, and some strolls down a few fairways, I’m reminded of a great story from last golf season. It’s the stuff career golfsmen can only dream of, while only the strongest can even imagine accomplishing such feats. So while I sit in my basement in multiple layers of clothing still freezing because it’s “comfortably” below 0º outside, allow me to tell you the tale of the most powerful golf shot ever struck by a human.

“Can You Help a Neighbor Out?”

I’m sure this will come as a surprise to everyone that follows this website, but I have quite a bit of golf equipment. One can safely assume that people regularly turn to me for “golf stuff”. Of course, I’m more than happy to help out whenever possible, but there’s one major issue. You see, my inventory is heavy on stout x-flex golf shafts for players with aggressive swing tempos. This often doesn’t suit the requests of “hey, do you have anything that would be good for me?” I promise, it’s nothing personal and I’m more than willing to help out. Lord knows I have enough equipment to do so. But let’s be honest, most people aren’t looking for a robust low/low-shafted driver or blades.

So one day I get a text from a neighbor asking for some club help. He tells me, “my driver cracked last time I golfed and I have an outing coming up.” Then of course, “any chance you have anything in the garage I might be able to borrow for the day?” As I mentioned, I’m more than happy to oblige, but realistically, what do I have that will be remotely usable for my buddy? So I tell him, “of course, but give me a bit to dig around and see what I actually have.”

After a little digging, I find my “winter driver” – a Cobra Fly-Z+. I love(d) that club. Given it was my winter driver, which gets used in freezing temperatures when I’m all bundled up, I had a very “user friendly” shaft in it. Perfect for the cause. The only catch was the grip was about as tacky as a 40 year-old garden hose. So I told my buddy just to meet me in the garage and I’ll regrip it real quick. He popped over, I told him to let it dry with the grip down, and he was on his way.

Waiting in Suspense

My buddy’s outing was two days away from when he picked up the club. Like a real golf nerd, all I worried about was how the club performed and whether or not it fell apart. Lord knows the last time I used it, and it lives in the non-climate controlled garage, so…anything could happen.

I realized some time had passed and I hadn’t heard how things went. I assumed fine because if not, I’m sure I would have heard something. I shot a text off, and all I got was a reply of “oh man, have I got a story for you!” Identifying a potential for website content, I said “don’t say anything else, I’ll wait and get the story between the yards.”

The Most Powerful Golf Shot Ever Struck

The story was nothing short of legendary and changed my perspective of golf forever. There’s power, and there’s what my friend Scott produced off the first tee on that glorious day. You see, Scott showed up to course, hit the driving range to knock off some of the annual rust, and striped a few out there like any other day. As his foursome stepped up to the first tee of their prestigious outing (scramble format), Scott chimed “I’m borrowing this driver, I guess we’ll see how this goes!” After grabbing a fresh Titleist from his bag, teeing it up, and putting all of his might into the swing, it was like a scene straight out of The Sandlot…

His playing partners were speechless. He had done something no one, and I’m positive absolutely no one, had accomplished since golf balls were scraps of leather stuffed with feathers. With a crushing blow with my old Cobra driver, Scott had hit the most powerful golf shot of modern times. Bryson DeChambeau, John Daly, Joe Miller, Kyle Berkshire…all of them would envy this man’s driver strength if they would have been there.

Needless to say, his drive would have gone for miles if the ball didn’t explode (pictured above), but unfortunately they ended up having to use another player’s tee shot. Nevertheless, a group of golfers got to witness a once-in-multiple-centuries event that defies the game itself. Lives were surely changed forever.

…or it was just a crappy wound ball that’s been stored in a Midwestern garage for decades. No one can really be sure, but I was certainly impressed and wanted to capture such a historical event.