(828) 526-0173 | [email protected] | Copyright 2024 – All Rights Reserved.
A Long Drive to Championship: Kyle Gabbard
Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: 2021/11 – November
Highlands native Kyle Gabbard’s talents have driven him to horizons far beyond the Plateau. Witness his ascent to the top of the Professional Long Drive Association’s Long Drive Championship.
Kyle Gabbard
On October 1 in Mesquite, Nevada, Kyle Gabbard hit a 365-yard-long drive to win the PLDA Amateur Long Drive Championship – breezing past a field of 16 to take the prize.
Gabbard’s win is the culmination of a year of competition – battling opponents in 10 events throughout the South, emerging victorious in five.
Gabbard’s family moved to the Plateau when he was six months old – or as Mom told it, “We drove up here from Tallahassee with all our stuff hanging out of the car and found home.”
At age 8, Gabbard’s father, Keven Gabbard, handed him his first set of clubs – a fitting gift from a guy who once played for the golf team at Miami of Ohio and has been, for the past 18 years, Head Golf Pro at Highlands’ Wildcat Cliffs Club.
When the now 23-year-old Gabbard graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill last year and could not find work because of Covid, Dad thought he had a gift for the long drive. Kyle, in turn, found his calling and dedicated himself to taking home the prize.
As his mom Andrea told me recently: “He took it seriously, researching workout programs and nutrition, and committing himself to more than simply improving his swing. He said he was going to win, and my God, so he did. It was amazing.”
Gabbard tells me that his recent victory is “a stepping stone” to get to the professional PLDA league. To do so, he is working on improving his ball speed to reach his goal of 215 mph – it’s currently at 210 mph. Getting there entails regular weightlifting to build upper body strength and hours of practice. Time on the course is provided thanks to the generosity of the folks at Wildcat Cliffs and is often spent with Raleigh long drive teacher Bobby Peterson, who is helping him, “get to the next level.”
Gabbard plans to get going with competitions again in February 2022. Given his drive and skills, there is reason to anticipate that Gabbard will once again deliver great golf, long drives, fast ball speeds and another championship a year from now.
