Golf: Rookie long driver is enjoying the ride

By DAVE BROUGHTON, Crofton Capital Papers
Published 08/23/09

Eddie Milligan looks every part the long drive competition rookie. While others boast an array of custom-made drivers, Milligan's hopes rest solely on a $100 club he found through a classified ad.
The 22-year-old Milligan has advanced through two regional competitions to qualify for the Re/Max World Long Drive Championship to be held in Mesquite, Nev., at the end of October. Long drive contestants must keep their ball within a 50-yard wide grid to be counted.

Milligan, a Crofton resident, earned the trip to Nevada by finishing fourth with an against-the-wind drive of 349 yards at the Region 1 qualification event last weekend at Oakland Hills Golf Club in Conneaut Lake, Pa. Approximately 90 local qualifiers from all over the United States and Canada competed in the open division, a double-elimination format consisting of eight rounds. The winning drive was 360 yards.

Previously, Milligan had finished in a tie for second with a drive of 387 yards in local qualifying held at Arundel Golf Park.

Not bad for the former star golfer at South River High School and Anne Arundel Community College.

"It's always been my strength, so I was pretty confident going in,'' Milligan said of his distance off the tee. "I'd always thought about doing it but I never did. This year I went online and got the information and entered the local qualifier.''

Milligan was an all-county selection while at South River, and qualified for the national junior college tournament both years while at AACC. He currently attends UMBC, which doesn't have a golf team.

Each year an excess of 10,000 competitors attempt to qualify for the RE/MAX Finals. These qualification events occur at approximately 300 sites around the globe. The event offers a total purse of $550,000. The finals will be shown on tape on ESPN2.

Milligan, who hopes to garner a sponsorship deal while in Nevada, has been practicing at Nighthawk Golf Center in Crofton