by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
Rob Rose isn’t a Jaguar or a country disk jockey. He’s a policeman who can hit a golf ball farther than you can.
At six foot seven inches and 260 pounds, he’s often asked if he plays professional football. With a name like that, he has to convince people that he isn’t Robbie Rose of FM-107.3.
He’s just a man who wants to be the world long-driving champion.
“It’s a tough league to be in,” he says. “I can really hit it, and my best finish was 42nd in the national tournament.”
The Long Drive Association has brought together the nation’s heavy lumber, and Rose thinks he has a good future. He’s only 29, he’s still adding muscle, and he’s only been doing this for three years.
“It takes experience,” he said, sitting at a conference table at the McDuff Avenue substation. “Hitting the ball a long way is a combination of flexibility, balance and power. Being big is a help, but there’s a lot more.”
He’s smoked his way around this area. The only driving range that’s available is at the Avenues; he’s into the woods and over the power lines elsewhere. He’s driven a number of par 4 greens including the 1st at the TPC Stadium; the 1st, 5th and 10th at South Hampton; the 1st at Jacksonville Beach; and the 4th at Glen Kernan. Some par 4s are non-driver holes for him; on the 327-yard 15th at Julington Creek, he hits an iron.
He has hit a ball 440 yards.
His swing speed is about 150 miles per hour; Tiger Woods is about 125. His driver is 52 inches long; Tiger’s is 44 or so. And he swings as hard as he can.
“It’s not my No. 1 or No. 2 punch,” he said. “It’s my No. 3. All out. That’s why you get six balls in competition. You’re not going to tattoo balls that hard and hit all of them in a 40-yard fairway.
“People ask, ‘Why do you swing so hard? Why not be smoother?’ Well, go to a long-drive contest, and you won’t see anyone going 60-70 percent, like you see on courses. We’re all at 90 percent, going as hard as we can without going 100 percent and hurting ourselves.”
His road to the nationals starts this month when he competes in the state event at a Central Florida range. Winners there go to the national in Nevada next month.
“I’ve been to the nationals twice, last year and the year before,” he said. “I should go again. I finished second in the state last year, and I’m still improving.”
He was a baseball and a basketball player at University Christian and a Georgia junior college, then fulfilled a life dream by making the Jacksonville police force.
“My brother and I were always trying to outdo each other — you know, see who could throw a ball the farthest, things like that,” he said. “Dad had a few drivers, and his office [Rosebilt Homes] is on Sunbeam Road, so my brother and I would go over to the range there. They finally asked us to quit hitting driver; we were losing too many balls.
“Another place asked us to stop; I was hitting into a trailer park behind the range . . . something like 350 yards away.”
Rose decided he might be able to compete in long driving and went to the Masterfit golf shop here, where he met Bob Mattiace. The brother of PGA Tour winner Len Mattiace, Bob is a good minitour player and a big hitter, and helped Rose get the right driver and shaft.
“Bob also helped me with technique,” said Rose. “He had the experience.”
Today, Masterfit is a sponsor, and Rose has landed a contract with Penley Shafts, the choice of most big hitters.
He does some corporate outings, charging $300 to show off his length (by driving a par 4) and power (hitting a ball through the Jacksonville telephone book.) He also spends time in the gym, building up is body for even more distance. And there’s a wife, a new baby and a new home, too.
His schedule isn’t a problem. He works from 1:30 p.m. to 12:55 a.m. four days, then is off five, then he’s back at the same hours for five days, then off for four.
“That gives me time to work out and practice,” he said. “I’m trying to build up hours. I’d like to pay off the house and be debt-free, and I need money to go to the big tournaments (there are a dozen or so around the country.)”
So, for this Rob Rose, it’s bombs away for the next two months. State qualifying first — “I should make it there” — which would lead to a trip to Mesquite, Nev., with 95 others for a shot at a big purse and national television exposure.
“It might take just one swing,” he said, “but that swing has to be right.”