World Champ Aussie Dave Sawtell Gears Up To Tee Off In Tennessee

By Mathilda Andersson

Being disabled has never stopped Australian para long drive world champion Dave ‘wheels’ Sawtell from reaching his goals. This year he is off to claim his second world title.

Using only his right arm to swing from a seated position, the 49-year-old paraplegic golfer and Tugun local Dave Sawtell is able to hit a golf ball further than most of us.

In 2014 he managed to unleash a remarkable drive of approximately 180m, and brought home the World Championship Long Drive title in Mesquite, United States.

Sawtell is currently preparing to go back to the U.S for the 2016 ParaLong Drive Cup in Tennessee being held in July, and is determined to win the world title standing up.

“Last time I placed third in the division for golfers standing up with help of a Paragolfer, competing in my own conventional wheelchair,” he said.

“They said I wouldn’t beat any of the golfers in that division, but I placed third out of eight contestants,”

“This year I want to go back and win that division too.”

The avid golfer, who was born with Spina Bifida and is confined to a wheelchair, is following a strict training regime to reach his goal.

Having lost almost 15 kilos working out with a trainer at the gym Fitness First in Mermaid Waters, the champion says he’s in the shape of his life.

“I feel great. I have lost disabled friends to obesity before and I won’t let that happened to me. I’ll go to the gym and train whenever I’m not out on the golf course or on the driving range,”

“I just roll with the punches and get it done.”

But competing in a division using a Paragolfer is a different ball game according to the sportsman, who is used to swinging from his conventional wheelchair single-handedly.

Last month, when attending a golf clinic for disabled golfers at Parkwood International on the Gold Coast, he was able to get a feel for the electric chair that will allow him to swing a golf club unimpeded and from an upright position.

“It was the second time in 40 years I’ve stood up,” he laughed.

“I didn’t quite find the right angel for my driver, but with my iron I was frankly shocked by the course of the ball, it was like nothing I ever hit before,”

“I just need to tweak my positioning and then change my training regime to suit the Paragolfer so I won’t get so sore and tired.”

The golf clinic is an Empower Golf initiative for golfers of all levels and disabilities to come and try the $35, 000 specially designed wheelchair, and that soon will see half a dozen similar clinics being run throughout Australia.

Parkwood International’s Managing Director Luke Altschwager said he was proud to host the inaugural clinic, and that he would like for the club to be known as a hub for less abled golfers on the Gold Coast.

“Anyone that’s having a crack at anything I think is amazing, disabled, abled bodied, doesn’t matter,” Mr Altschwager said.

Parkwood International has committed to organize a golf day on its premises in April later this year to help Sawtell raise enough money for airfares and accommodation in Tennessee.

“Dave is a world champion and a remarkable golfer and person. If I can help him in any way to get his title, I’m happy to do so,” Mr Altschwager added.

To read the full article in GIC Magazine, click here