Story and photo by
Tim Hipps
Special to GUIDON

MESQUITE, Nev. — Coast Guard Ensign Ryan Hixson defeated Army Reserve Pfc. Nate Chadwick to win his third Military Long Drive Championship.



Chadwick, who advanced to the finals after winning an installation-level contest at Fort Leonard Wood in August, took the lead with a 335-yard drive on his last shot in the final pairing, setting the stage for Hixson’s dramatic 343-yard walk-off blast into a strong headwind that secured his third consecutive triumph in the Army Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation event.



“That was the most emotion I’ve ever shown on a tee box,” said Hixson, 27, who pumped his fists into the air and screamed at the crowd after completing the mission.

“It was special, being the third time and coming down to the very end — I had to hit a really good ball, and was able to do it,” Hixson said. “Man, I’m still excited.”



After failing to keep his first five balls on the grid in the final showdown against Hixson, Chadwick’s last shot came to rest about 5 yards inside the left sideline and 335 yards from the tee, surpassing Hixson’s longest previous drive in the finals: 321 yards.
Chadwick, who thought the ball was headed out of bounds, turned around, tipped his cap to the crowd, and headed to congratulate Hixson, who pointed out that the shot was good while the audience roared its approval.

“Those last five minutes were such a roller-coaster,” said Chadwick, 25, of Milwaukee. “I went from hitting my first three out-of-bounds and seeing Ryan put up a decent number — 321 — then coming back and putting what I thought were the next three out of bounds. I was walking over to shake Ryan’s hand and say thank you to the crowd and I just saw Ryan running at me and pointing at the screen, saying: ‘It’s in!’ You talk about going from a complete low to just the highest of highs. It was unbelievable,” Chadwick said.



At that point, Hixson knew he had more work to do. “I saw it was going past 321, and I was on a beeline for my driver,” Hixson said of Chadwick’s final drive. “I knew what I had to do. I try not to get caught up in what the other guys do and what they hit. All I can control is how I hit the ball, and that’s all that was going through my mind,” Hixson said.



He hooked his fourth ball wide left and was down to his final two before launching the $10,000 winner. “I hit that thing as good as I can hit a ball — dead straight,” he said.



Chadwick, who has competed twice in the open division of the World Long Drive Championship, could only stand back and watch.


“I knew Ryan had it in his bag,” he said. “When he came up to play, I said: ‘It’s not over; this kid can just blow it right by me.’ I was just sitting there counting bullets. I dodged one, then he just smoked one down the right side and he deserves all the credit in the world.”



Throughout the competition, 20- to 23-mile-per-hour winds steadily blew into the golfers’ faces and pushed balls right to left on the grid, where the wind-chill factor hovered around 40 degrees.



Chadwick, who flaunted his Milwaukee roots by playing in short sleeves, toyed with the audience for being all bundled up in layers and seemed both comfortable and confident on the tee box.



“These finals were a perfect setup,” Chadwick said. “Ryan plays a nice draw and I play a power fade, so it was a match-up of which style was going to come out on top.”



Hixson earned the top-seeded spot in the six-man finals earlier in the day with a 342-yard drive on his final ball in the second round of qualifying.


Sgt. Brian Webb of Fort Eustis, Va., was seeded third and posted a best drive of 293 yards in the finals.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Kenneth Leonard of Fort Lewis, Wash., was seeded fourth and drove the ball 277 yards.

Staff Sgt. Jake Taylor of Fort Bragg, N.C., was seeded fifth and finished with a 312-yard blast.



 

Staff Sgt. Tafuna Oney of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, rounded out the finalists. Perhaps the most consistent swinger in the preliminaries, his longest drive in the finals was 320 yards.



Hixson, who married and completed Officer Candidate School since winning last year, hopes his success will help raise awareness of the Coast Guard’s relevance among America’s Armed Forces.



“Hopefully, some people who are on the fence of wanting to enlist or go to OCS or whatever the case may be, will say, ‘Hey, this guy’s in the Coast Guard and he’s got opportunities to do things like this,” he said.



Hixson survived the first day of eliminations in the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship the next day, but was eliminated before the Friday night finals.

He vowed to return next year for another opportunity in the desert — and whether or not he qualifies for another shot at the military event, his win this year earns him another bye into the 2010 Open Division event.



Chadwick plans to meet him there. “I’ll definitely be back next year,” he said.

(Editor’s note: Hipps writes for Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command.)