Women's long drive record established at Edgewood during celebrity golf action

Submitted by paula on Tue, 07/19/2016 - 8:15pm

A drive of 336-yards by the 2013 Women's World Long Drive Champion Heather LeMaster was good enough to establish a world record at elevation during the American Century Championship at Edgewood Tahoe on Tuesday.

LeMaster, a Sacramento native, was one of four contestants to attempt the record.

Blair O’Neal, a former LPGA Symentra Tour player and current Golf Channel host, found the fairway in all nine of her shots, with the best reaching 325 yards. Morgan Murphy, a pro at Lake Tahoe Golf Course, hit the 314-yard mark. Kathryn Tappen, a host and reporter for the NFL and NHL on NBC Sports, reached 255 yards. A light breeze was at the players’ backs on the No. 1 tee.

LeMaster, O’Neal and Tappen will be three of the record five women competing in the 27th annual celebrity tournament on the shores of Lake Tahoe starting Friday.

The tournament will submit LeMaster’s 336-yard effort at over 6,000 feet to the Guinness Book of World Records with video authentication.

“I love that all four girls were out here,” said the 5-foot-11 LeMaster, who played collegiately at Cal State Sacramento. “I only hit four (drives) in the grid out of nine. I knew accuracy wasn’t going to be my forte, but I knew length could be. I was fortunate with the elevation here at Tahoe. I wanted 345 really bad. That 293 ball was it, but I caught it too high on the club face.”

O’Neal was pleased with her efforts. “I hit 325, so I gave it a shot,” said O’Neal, who has also been a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model. “I hit every fairway, though, so I give myself points for that. But Heather was great. She crushed it.”

LeMaster, who is recently engaged liked the thought of possibly ending up in the Guinness Book of World Records.

“I think it’s a great possibility,” she said. “It’s a lot to build on. I think it’s a realistic number that other girls are going to look and go, hey, I can do this, or, hey, I should come out to the American Century next year when we do it again.”