Van Zyl eyes US long drive stint

After finally bursting into the world rankings by reaching the round of 32 at the recent World Long Drive Golf Championship in Texas, Benonian Thorne van Zyl will be heading back to the States for an extended stay next year.

The 23-year-old big-hitter from Norton Home Estate, who has dominated the local Grid Outlaws Long Drive standings for the past three years, will spend four months on the world circuit from February 2020 where he will fall under the mentorship of world renowned long drive coach Bobby Peterson.

Peterson, nicknamed ‘Mad Scientist’, coaches many of World Long Drive’s top stars, including the 2019 champion Kyle Berkshire.

“I have been exposed to the best in the world and broken through barriers I thought I would never be able to. One can’t replace the experience gained at the Worlds,” explained Van Zyl, who fell just 50 points short of advancing to the money-spinning last 16.

“The contenders overseas hit it faster and longer and their international experience shines through. I can only elevate myself into the top rung by competing against them regularly.”

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He pointed out the impact which climate changes and jet lag had played on his 10-day cross-continental journey between the world qualifying event and European Long Drive Games in Spain followed by the USA event and acknowledged it took some getting used to.

But no sooner had he set foot back on home soil than he was straight back to his winning ways. He strengthened his grip on the Grid Outlaws standings with another impressive victory in the eighth leg at Arrows Rest, Hartbeespoort Dam, last week.

He saw off Jason Cook in the final with his longest drive of the day (405.4m), which his opponent could only match with a 360m effort, to open up an unassailable 330 point lead over nearest rival Jason Vickers with two events still to play.