Monte Scheinblum

Monte Scheinblum
— Golfer —
Personal information
Born (1967-05-15) May 15, 1967
Portland, Oregon
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st)[1]
Nationality  United States
Residence Irvine, California (as of 2005)[1]
Career
College UCLA
Status Professional
Former tour(s) Nike Tour
Achievements and awards
U.S. National
Long Drive Champion		 1992
World
Long Drive Champion		 1992

Monte Scheinblum (born May 15, 1967) is an American professional golfer, and the son of former Major League Baseball All Star outfielder Richie Scheinblum. While he competed on the Nike Tour, he became known especially for his long driving, where success is achieved by a golfer hitting a golf ball the farthest. In 1992 he won the National Long Driving Championship in the United States, and was the world long driving champion.[2][3][4]

Early life

Scheinblum, who is Jewish, is the son of former Major League Baseball All Star outfielder Richie Scheinblum.[3][5][6] His father played in the 1972 All Star Game while he was with the Kansas City Royals.[3]

As a child he spent two years of his boyhood in Japan, where his father played baseball for the Hiroshima Carp. He then lived in Orange County, California, where he attended Villa Park High School. Scheinblum turned to professional golf after an injury to his pitching elbow in his freshman year of being a power pitcher in high school ended his dream of playing major league baseball as his father had.[3][5]

Golf

A 6' 2", 190-pound athlete, Scheinblum is an accomplished golfer. Between 1993 and 1996 he competed on the second tier Nike Tour (now Web.com Tour), where his best finish was a tie for fifth in the 1994 Monterrey Open.[3] He also played in one PGA Tour event, the 1996 Michelob Championship at Kingsmill, missing the cut.

Scheinblum has had his greatest success in long drive competitions. In 1991, he was the runner-up in the U.S. National Long Driving Championship with a drive of 319 yards.[6][7] The following year, in Boca Raton, Florida, he won the event with a drive of 329 yards, 13 inches, into a 20 mile-per-hour wind.[5][6][8][9] Mike Gorton, the 1987 champion, took second with a drive of 307 yards, 22 inches.[8] That year he was also the world long driving champion.[4] In October 1993, he narrowly failed to defend his national title, finishing second to Brian Pavlett with a drive of 324 yards, 30 inches. Pavlett had hit his first three balls out of bounds before going past Scheinblum with a drive of 336 yards, 6 inches.[10]

In September 1994, Scheinblum won a long drive tournament in Provo, Utah with a drive of 333 yards (304 m).[11]

Writer Jaime Diaz noted in an article in Sports Illustrated entitled "Short On Fame; Though they outdistance the Tour's mightiest ball strikers, Long Drivers live in obscurity", that inspiring fans to turn out to see a long-drive competition can be challenging.[3] Scheinblum, making an analogy to baseball players who hit baseballs a long way, noted in a 1995 interview with Sports Illustrated that long drivers with forceful swings can appear as a freak show to skeptics, and be seen as being similar to Dave Kingman:

Even though he hit more than 400 home runs, a bunch of them humongous shots, Kingman's never going to make it into the Hall of Fame. To most people he was this giant guy with a wild swing, and all he did was either hit home runs or strike out.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "The Gateway Tour 2008; Monte Scheinblum"
  2. ↑ "Not Even Daly Can Touch Monte Scheinblum's Drives; John Who?", York Daily Record, July 1, 1993. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Jaime Diaz (May 1, 1995). "Short On Fame; Though they outdistance the Tour's mightiest ball strikers, Long Drivers live in obscurity". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  4. 1 2 Ed Richards (July 9, 1996). "Three Earn Chance To Play With Best". Daily Press. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 "Monte Scheinblum Shines When He's Hitting Off the Tee", Bucky Albers, Dayton Daily News, May 19, 1993. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 Bob Wechsler (2008). Day by day in Jewish sports history. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. ISBN 0-88125-969-1. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Tampa's Scranton finishes strong to win final LPGA major Series". St. Petersburg Times. September 16, 1991. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  8. 1 2 "Scheinblum Wins Driving Competition". Boca Raton, Florida: Sun Sentinel. October 5, 1992. Retrieved December 24, 2010.
  9. ↑ "Hallberg Wins First PGA Title" , Miami Herald, October 5, 1992. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  10. ↑ "Long Drive". Boca Raton, Florida: Sun Sentinel. October 11, 1993. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
  11. ↑ Kurt Kragthorpe (September 8, 1994). "Scheinblum is Big Hitter, but Special Olympians are Gib Hit with Golfers". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved December 23, 2010.
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