jamiesadlowski.net

ALOHA

I had a blast starting the new year at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, where I took part in a long drive contest as part of the FedExCup Kick-off at Kapalua, which launched the 2011 PGA Tour season.

I hope you were able to watch Golf Channel’s coverage on Jan. 5. I competed in a charity event against three of the biggest hitters on the PGA Tour –- Robert Garrigus, Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson.

Each of us hit a set of three balls to start with, and the top two advanced to the finals. I qualified first with 398 yards. Bubba got the other spot in the finals with a drive of 370 yards. Robert posted 365 and Dustin 352.

In the finals, Bubba went first and put up 334-352-347. I began my final three-ball set with 402 yards, which technically won the contest, and added 396 and 407 on the next two swings.

Then Frank Nobilo, who was doing the TV commentary for Golf Channel, encouraged me to smash one from the left side. Bubba loaned me one of his drivers and after a couple of practice swings, I managed to pull/snap one out there about 280 yards or so.

I suppose I need to start practice driving lefthanded. I might want to add that element to my future shows, since the gallery got a real kick out of watching me hit from the “other” side.

In case you are wondering what equipment I used in the long drive contest, here is the story. I started off each set with my 45” Adams 9064 Speedline driver. Once I put a ball in the fairway (which, luckily, happened in both sets), I switched over to a 48” Adams Speedline. That’s the length of driver I use for Long Drivers of America Tour events and at the RE/MAX world finals. Both Adams drivers, by the way, have House of Forged shafts.

After the long drive event, I was invited to participate in the Pro/Celebrity Charity Challenge as Dustin Johnson’s partner. We played one hole in an alternate-shot format. Not only did I get to partner with Dustin, who’s a really good guy, but I got to share the stage with PGA Tour stars Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim and Graeme McDowell as well as PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, surfing superstar Kelly Slater and actor Craig T. Nelson.

Dustin and I made a par on our one hole together, the first at Kapalua’s Plantation Course. After I hit driver, Dustin’s approach shot left me about 35 feet under the hole. The birdie putt broke a good six or seven feet from left to right. I managed to put a good roll on the ball and cozied it up there about 6-8” above the cup. Dustin tapped it in. We shook hands and I wished him good luck in the tournament.

I had flown down to Arizona at the first of the year to get in some practice before heading out to Hawaii, but I ran into a deep freeze in Phoenix and sat around cooling my heels. Fortunately, I got in some practice at Kapalua on Tuesday, the day before the event. Despite dealing with jet lag, I was ready to rock.

Before the long drive contest began, I was feeling a bit edgy. My nerves were jumpier than they’ve ever been at the RE/MAX world finals, but the tour guys made me feel welcome and right at home. I settled in and was able to take some good rips at the ball. The rest is history.

Tournament officials commemorated my win in the long drive event by making a donation in my name to the Maui Memorial Medical Center Foundation.

All in all, it was a memorable trip to Hawaii and a great way to begin 2011. Happy new year, everyone.

http://www.golfweek.com/news/2011/jan/05/long-driving-sadlowski-take-tour-bombers/

SADLOWSKI CAPTURES LONG DRIVE CONTEST AT FEDEXCUP KICK-OFF IN HAWAII

ROANOKE, TEXAS (Jan. 6, 2011) – Two-time RE/MAX world long drive Jamie Sadlowski outgunned a trio of the PGA Tour’s biggest hitters during FedExCup Kick-off activities at the 2011 Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

Sadlowski peeled off four bills on the 18^th hole at the Plantation Course at Kapalua to win the made-for-TV long drive contest that pitted the 22-year-old Canadian sensation against PGA Tour bombers Robert Garrigus, Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson.

With Golf Channel cameras rolling, Sadlowski hammered a three-drive final set of 402-396-407 yards. Watson, the runner-up, tallied 334-352-347 yards.

Sadlowski’s 398-yard poke in the three-ball qualifying round paced the early power parade. Watson earned his spot in the finals with 370 yards, while Garrigus, the PGA Tour’s driving distance leader the past two years, posted 365 yards and Johnson posted 352 yards.

Tournament officials will make a donation to the Maui Memorial Medical Center Foundation in Sadlowski’s honor.

“It was a blast out there,” said Sadlowski, who won RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship, the premier event in power golf, in 2008 and 2009. “Actually, I was more nervous than I’ve ever been at the RE/MAX world finals. But the guys made me feel comfortable and right at home, so that freed me up to make some good rips.”

Sadlowski added: “It felt great to reach four bills with my standard length (45”) Adams 9064 Speedline driver. Having only three balls per set, as the opposed to the six balls we get at the RE/MAX world finals and at LDA events, made it imperative to find the fairway.”

For more information on Jamie Sadlowski, browse www.jamiesadlowski.net. For more information on LDA-sanctioned events, including the 2011 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship, browse www.longdrivers.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Steve Wiley (682) 549-2105 or

Russ Pate (817) 819-4547

Recently joined the social network of Twitter.

jamiesadlowski

I will have updated pictures, news and behind the scenes stuff.

I will still use the website but will have all the most recent updates on Twitter.

Thanks

JS

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

I extend my best wishes for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my long drive friends, sponsors and fellow competitors. Here’s hoping we have a great year, both individually and collectively, in 2011.

Looking back, 2010 has provided some amazing memories. A few of them include getting to play golf with the likes of Sir Nick Faldo, Ian Baker-Finch and Rocco Mediate; being welcomed as a member at Whisper Rock GC in Scottsdale, Arizona and getting to know my way around; winning a two-man golf tournament down in Texas with my business manager, Art Sellinger; having Gary McCord take me under his wing and offer career advice.

Also joining Dick’s Sporting Good and being a brand ambassador for their Slazenger brand, performing Power Exhibitions for The Tampa Bay Rays as well as The Dallas Mavericks. Last but not least being invited to The Big Break Sandals and hitting a few tee shots for the ladies was also a lot of fun.

The most gratifying part of my journey was being able to help raise money for charity by staging power shows across Canada and the United States.

Looking ahead, I’m hoping to line up a full schedule of outings in 2011. In the coming weeks, long before the snow thaws up here, I’ll concentrate on setting up dates for the spring and early summer. If anyone reading this is looking for a golf entertainer to headline a corporate outing or charity tournament, I’m your man.

Again, enjoy the holidays. I’ll be back in touch after the calendar flips over.

REFLECTIONS ON MESQUITE

The RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship powered by Dick’s Sporting Goods is in the books for another year. Once again, the people in Mesquite, Nevada rolled out a red carpet for elite long drivers from around the globe. As always, my family and I enjoyed being back in Mesquite.

First, I’d like to congratulate Joe Miller, who won the Open Division title, as well as 2010 world champions in the other RE/MAX divisions: George Slupski (Seniors), Frank Miller (Super Seniors), Thomas Proben (Grand Champions) and Rick Barry (Legends).

Each of them did a fantastic job and was a deserving winner. It’s a special honor to be the last man standing in Mesquite and to get to hoist that championship trophy over your head. Flat-out, it’s the best feeling in this sport.

Second, I’d like to thank RE/MAX International, Dick’s Sportings Goods, Slazenger, Mr. & Mrs. T’s, Zero Friction and all the other championship sponsors for their support.

And I wish to thank Lisa Weistart, Trevor Napier and all the good folks at Adams Golf who got me dialed in with my equipment and ready to compete.

Finally, I salute Art Sellinger, Mike Ambriz and the whole crew at Long Drivers of America, which manages the RE/MAX championship. LDA did a great job setting up the venue and running the tournament.

In particular, LDA should be commended for the tribute paid to Mike Moulton, one of the top-tier long drivers who passed away suddenly and unexpectedly right before the RE/MAX championship began. I didn’t know Mike all that well, but the times we were together I really enjoyed his company. He’ll be missed.

I was able to mount a pretty decent defense of the title I won in 2008 and 2009. This time around, I reached the final four, before losing to Joe Miller in the semifinals, 395-388.

Overall, I was pleased with my effort. I peeled off four bills and led my group a couple of the rounds. Still, I came up eight yards short of having a chance to three-peat, which tells me there is plenty of work to do going forward.

A tip of the cap to Joe, Ryan Louw and Domenic Mazza, who filled out the final four. And to every RE/MAX competitor who made the top 24 and received an exemption for 2011.

Folks in the United States can watch the RE/MAX finals on ESPN2 on Christmas Eve and on ESPN on Christmas Day. I haven’t heard when or if the show will air here in Canada.

What folks will see on ESPN are a bunch of young guns –-Mazza, who just turned 16 (!) being the youngest of the bunch — going at it hard.

I’ve already heard from people who watched the telecast on ESPN3.com that it’s probably the best showcase yet for long drivers. That has to be a good thing.

NEXT ON THE TEE: Jamie recaps 2010 and looks ahead to 2011.

TUNING UP IN TEXAS

I spent October 17-23 down in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, beginning my final preparations for the RE/MAX world championship, which is right around the corner.

Much of the time in Texas was devoted to getting my equipment fine-tuned. I worked closely with Frank Hartwick II at Sellinger’s Power Golf and Trevor Napier from Adams Golf to get some new drivers built and dialed in.

My arsenal for Mesquite will include several Adams 9064LDs and Adams 9032LDs, all with House of Forged shafts. The clubs measure 50” in length (the LDA limit) and CPM right at 270. The lofts range from 6.5 to 7.0 degrees.

My main concern in a new driver is the face angle at address. I want the setup to be square, not open or closed. A CPM of 270 is pretty high, but I prefer having the extra stiffness for when I’m under the gun and the adrenaline has kicked in.

I spent a couple days at The Practice Tee in Richardson, testing the new drivers and discussing minor tweaks with Frank and Trevor. I also did an exhibition for Adams Golf at a demo day at The Practice Tee on October 22.

Besides equipment, the other area of emphasis during my time in Texas was working out a few physical kinks. I paid a couple of visits to Dr. Troy van Bizen of ChiroSports Specialists of Dallas.

Dr. Van Bizen and his staff work with a blue-chip list of professional athletes, including quite a few PGA Tour players. Damon, one of the personal trainers, gave me a new workout plan that focuses on my weakness’. He explained that you should train the areas that need it rather than just train. He helped loosen up tightness in my shoulder (the result of an old injury from my junior hockey days).

I also played golf one afternoon with my friend Pat Arthur at Royal Oaks Country Club. Royal Oaks is home to one of the top instructors in golf, Randy Smith. Royal Oaks has produced PGA Tour players like Justin Leonard and Harrison Frazier (who I bumped into that day and got to chat with briefly) and Nationwide Tour player Colt Knost, the former U.S. Amateur winner.

I’m planning to head down to Mesquite, Nevada on October 30. This year, I’m expecting to have about 15-20 family members and friends in the gallery and I’m hoping to give them something special to cheer.

I’m scheduled compete on Thursday, November 4 in Group 11, which includes Justin James, another former RE/MAX junior world champion. You can check out our progress on the live scoreboard at www.longdrivers.com.

The RE/MAX finals will be telecast live on ESPN3.com on Friday, November 5. The show begins at 6:30pm Eastern time, 3:30pm Pacific time (4:30pm in Alberta).

Please tune in if you get the chance.

NEXT ON THE TEE: Jamie returns home from Mesquite and provides a recap of the 2010 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship powered by Dick’s Sporting Goods.

CHILLING OUT

Fishing has always been one of my favorite activities. Ever since I was a boy and my grandfather, John Sadlowski, put a rod-and-reel in my hands and introduced me to the sport.

First thing I did when I got home from the Zero Friction outing in Toronto, the last appearance on my schedule until after this year’s RE/MAX world finals, was to go fishing.

Heading north with my buddy Tyler and his dad, Darrell, we drove out of St. Paul for a couple hours. We have a favorite fishing spot up there that’s set back deep in the woods, a lake teeming with northern pike and walleye.

We had a pretty decent catch, considering the time of year. We cleaned the fish and cooked them over an open fire. Walleye, especially, makes for some good eats. Slap on plenty of flour and butter, add a touch of salt, and you’re good to go.

We drove back home to St. Paul with our bellies full of walleye, which if you ask me is better-tasting by far than northern pike. Even on the days when you don’t catch anything to speak of, though, fishing is a great way to chill. Which is something I needed to do after a busy schedule of outings this summer and early fall.

After the fishing expedition, I started getting ready for this year’s RE/MAX world finals by spending time each day at Kain’s Fitness Gym. In the last few years I have come up with a customized workout, a sort of hybrid mix of hockey-related exercises and golf-related exercises.

When I get to Kain’s, I slap on the earphones, crank up the music and spend a couple hours alternating between lifting weights and doing cardio work. The whole point of the workout is to stay long, lean and limber. Those three L’s are essential to helping me create another L — leverage — in my golf swing.

Besides gym time, my days at home were largely devoted to getting my house ready for the months ahead. When you live this far north, you had better get the caulking done and the insulation in or else you’ll pay a price come winter, when the temperature often stays below freezing for weeks and months at a time, and arctic blasts on occasion take the wind chill factor down to a good –50 degrees or so.

It’s a good thing I spend a lot of time on the road in the winter time with my outings, otherwise it’s a very very long winter back in Alberta.

NEXT ON THE TEE: Jamie travels to Texas to get his equipment dialed in for the upcoming 2010 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship powered by Dick’s Sporting Goods.

COLORADO AND TORONTO

My trip to Colorado last month for LDA’s Mile High Shootout gave me confidence that I’m on track with my preparation for the upcoming RE/MAX world finals.

I hit the ball pretty decent all day in Denver and wound up with the #1 seed going into the final round. The finals featured eight hitters and I was in the last of the two-on-the-tee groups with Chad Klein. The number we had to catch was right at 400 yards, which Kevin Shook and Patrick Hopper had posted.

I caught one solid in the final set of six balls and flew it 390-plus. The ball didn’t get any roll to speak of, though, and was measured at 398 yards. That was good enough for third place. As it turned out, Kevin edged Patrick by a mere seven inches (400/12 to 400/5) and took home the trophy. One inch difference and under LDA rules they would have had a three-ball playoff.

I alternated using the new Adams 9064LD head and the Adams 9032 head, both equipped with House of Forged shafts. I had my best balls with the 9032. I plan to fly to Dallas in mid-October and do some more club testing at the Adams Golf headquarters in Plano.

The next day, I played golf with Mike Reagan of RE/MAX International and Long Drivers of America executives Art Sellinger and Mike Ambriz. We played Sanctuary (the private RE/MAX course) in the morning and Castle Pines (the former site of a PGA Tour event, The International) in the afternoon.

Thirty-six holes at altitude in the Rockies might seem a bit much for some. As I explained to a friend, I’m not smart but I am fairly brave.

After golf, we also visited the headquarters of Yes! Golf in Denver. Blair Phillip, the head R&D guy at Yes!,fixed me up with a new putter with C-Groove technology. Maybe a few birdie putts will begin to fall.

I flew out of Denver on Monday morning and headed to Markham, Ontario, just outside of Toronto. I made an appearance on Tuesday on behalf of Excel Golf Products, which makes Zero Friction Tees, One of my personal sponsors at the annual golf event that Golf Town sponsors. Golf Town is one of the largest and most prestigious golf retailers across Canada. They have a store in Edmonton I like to drop by from time to time.

My job, once again, was to blast drives for all the groups at one of the par-fives. I was pleased to have the opportunity to represent Zero Friction Tees and help raise some money for cancer research. I flew back to Alberta the next day with the specific intent of getting some rest and putting my clubs away for awhile.

It won’t be long before the snow falls here in St. Paul and the temperature dips below freezing. It’s time, in other words, to winterize my house and get ready for a long cold spell up here.

NEXT ON THE TEE: Jamie starts gearing up for the 2010 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship in Mesquite, Nevada. But first he goes fishing in the boondocks with some buddies.

I spent an enjoyable if chilly day

down in Calgary last Thursday, appearing

at a charity golf event for the Alberta

Children’s Hospital Foundation.

The tournament host, Haywood Securities,

Inc., had invited some of its corporate

clients and friends to the outing at

Carmoney CC.

My job was to raise money by hitting

drives on a designated par-five. Each

group paid either $20 to have me hit

one drive or $80 to have me hit until

I was happy. I wound up collecting over

$1,500 to add to the fund.

Conditions weren’t exactly ideal for long

distance. The temperature was probably in

the low 40s at its peak that day and I was

hitting into a headwind. Plus I had on

about five layers of clothing to try and

ward off the chill.

Still, I was able to move it out there

around 330 or 340, which left the groups

with about 130-140 to the green. So, in

theory at least, every scramble team had

a shot at making eagle.

Then at the end of the day I put on an

power exhibition on the thirteenth hole.

If you haven’t seen one of my power shows, the

formula is pretty basic: hit the ball hard

and break some things. The old one-two.

My showstopper for the past couple years

has been bursting a watermelon. That shot

has been featured in Golf Digest, Golf

World and several other golf magazines.

A friend of mine has been encouraging me

to add the phone book shot to my repetoire.

So that when I perform a show in a large

metropolitan area I can impress the audience

by driving a golf through a telephone directory

five or six inches thick.

I think I’d better start with the St. Paul

phone book and work up my way up from there.

Or maybe see how I do with the Edmonton yellow

pages.

After the Calgary trip, I played with my buds

in a couple of scramble tournaments in the

area. We won the event in Manville, shooting

15 under. But in the annual St. Paul scramble,

on my home course, our team lost by two with

14 under. A par-par finish doesn’t hack it in

scrambles.

This week, I’m heading to Colorado for the

Mile High Shootout. On Thursday, I’ll get with

Lisa Weistart and Trevor Napier of Adams Golf and

test the new 9064LD. It’s  a smoking hot driver,

and I can’t wait to see the numbers we put up on

the Trackman. Friday, I plan on getting in some serious long drive practice for the first time in several

months. Then I’ll be competing on Saturday against the longest hitters  on the long-drive circuit. That’s

always a blast.

On Sunday, I’ll have the privilege of playing golf

with Mr. Mike Reagan, senior vice president of RE/MAX International, the title sponsor of the world long

drive championship. One of the spoils of victory

is getting invited to play  The Sanctuary, RE/MAX’s

private executive retreat. It’s one of most awesome golf courses in the Rockies and the entire western United States. Art Sellinger, the owner and chief executive officer of Long Drivers of America, will also be in our group, along with other LDA officials.

On Monday, I’m heading back east to Toronto to do

an outing for Excel Golf Products. By my calculation,

that will be roughly my fiftieth outing (give or take) in 2010. That’s a lot of time on the road and a lot of air miles, but I wouldn’t trade any of those experiences. It’s been an unforgettable year.

Toronto will be my final outing until after the 2010 RE/MAX finals. Beginning next week, my focus will be centered on preparing for Mesquite.

NEXT ON THE TEE: Jamie recaps the 2010 Mile High Shootout and his trip to Toronto.