Muscles at Mesa Linda

COSTA MESA -- The oohs and aahs from spectators, along with the grunts of exertion from determined competitors at Costa Mesa Golf & Country Club on Saturday, could mean only one thing: the long drive contest found another home.

Baseball has the home run derby, which showcases participants’ propensity to power pitchers’ offerings that stretch tape measures beyond usual limits. Golf has the long drive contest, a similar test of strength, stamina, timing and accuracy unlike any other competition within the sport.

They came from places as far as London, St. Louis and Griffin, Ga., along with closer commuters from Arcadia and Huntington Beach for the chance to participate in the Costa Mesa Classic, the inaugural event in the freshly-formed Long Drive Golf Assn., an organization that hopes to give professionals and amateurs alike more opportunities to compete and generate interest within the sport.

Twenty-two competitors, including Europe’s No. 1-ranked long driver, Adam Stacey, and former World Long Drive champion Pat Dempsey, teed-off on the par-4 first hole on the Mesa Linda course just after noon in front of roughly 100 spectators.

Eight found themselves in the finals after nearly five hours of launching ball after ball into a steady headwind as temperatures nose-dived throughout the afternoon.

Arcadia’s Jim Heflin, 35, who installs air conditioners for a living, claimed the top prize with a final-round best blast of 338 yards, 4 inches, besting Dan Luirette, who took second at last year’s World Long Drive Championships, by little more than two yards.

Heflin, who stands 6-foot-7 and weighs 245 pounds, arrived just in time for the noon starting time after attending his son’s baseball game in the morning.

“Relief that it’s over,” Heflin said, describing his feelings after slamming 24 balls through four rounds of competition. Golfers had two minutes to hit six balls into a grid that measured 40 yards wide by 130 yards long. Any ball that stopped outside the grid didn’t count.

“My wife is going to be happy because this finances the whole year,” Heflin said.

Heflin, who started competing in long drive events eight years ago, claimed $4,000 of the $11,000 purse with the victory. He qualified for this year’s World Long Drive Championships with his fourth-place finish in the Diamond in the Desert Classic three weeks ago in Mesquite, Nev., and said he felt confident heading into Saturday.

“I tried to stay relaxed and put good swings on it,” said the left-handed Heflin.

Constant wind into players’ faces forced strategy switches, Heflin added.

“You have to keep the ball low and, hopefully, it runs and releases. You don’t have a lot of carry time. Swing hard in case you hit it square.”

Luirette averaged 338.75 feet for his best four drives.

Jeff Farley, a 29-year-old Huntington Beach resident who sells homes and runs his own business, tallied the longest drive of any round ? a 344-yard, 7-inch blast in the quarterfinals. Farley finished third overall, carding a 332-yard drive in the final round.

Steve Magan, a St. Louis resident, finished fourth with a final-round drive of 326 yards while Dempsey placed fifth (321 yards).

Stacey, 23, who has only been competing in long drive events since June, finished seventh overall (307 yards). He got his start in long driving after he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee playing soccer in his native England.

“I couldn’t physically walk around a golf course,” Stacey said.

Relegated to the driving range during recovery, Stacey honed his long-drive skills enough to enter competitions.

When asked what drew him to compete in the Costa Mesa Classic, Stacey replied, “For the love of the game.”

Event founders David Wallace and Kyle Wilson said the event, for the most part, went smoothly and were pleased with the caliber of entrants.

“We had six or seven of the top 15 in the world,” said Wilson, the association’s president who reached the World Long Drive Championships in just his second try. “Our goal was 24 players, but the quality of guys that showed up made it even better.”