Chronicle Editor
Brandon Moyo, [email protected]
UNIVERSAL Long Drive world champion and former Zimbabwe cricketer, Campbell “Macca” MacMillan, is committed to ensuring the country benefits from his talent as he hopes to introduce the game to everyone.
With long drive being unpopular, even among the golfing community in the country, MacMillan — a pioneering long driver in Zimbabwe — hopes to use his talent to help grow and develop the game in Zimbabwe.
The five-handicapper is plying his trade in the United States of America (USA), where he also won the coveted Universal Longest Drive world title held in South Carolina, USA last year.
He smashed the competition with a staggering 442-yard drive at sea level. With the world title in the bag, MacMillan now has a dream, a vision of inspiring many more back home into the game.
Two weeks ago, the Bulawayo golfing community had the privilege of watching him do what he does best during the All Africa Golf Team Championship fundraising tournament at Bulawayo Golf Club.
At the event, he met Zimbabwe Golf Association (ZGA) president Martin Chikwana and media and marketing officer Ephraim Mashingaidze, and believes this could be the start of a fruitful relationship.
The 42-year-old said he hopes to see young generations in Zimbabwe benefiting from what he is trying to do. He said the aim is to change other people’s lives through Long Drive and help create the country’s next big sporting stars.
“So, that is where we are, ground level. No one knows what we are doing but guess what, we have a world champion. We do, we should be proud of this and I am very lucky. I have managed to meet Martin and Ephraim and we are going to try and create a relationship. Also with the people as well, when you guys leave this place you can tell others what you saw. You will never know, you can start the conversation that can change someone else’s life, not mine.
“I want you to change my life so I can change someone else’s. I want this to be a ripple effect through the young generations of Zimbabwe. There are a lot of misled kids and it’s a general consensus of course. But, where are we going with this, where is our pride? When was the last time we stood up as Zimbabweans and said hey, this is what we are looking for, the Kirsty Coventrys, winning the gold medals, and the Tatenda Taibus of the world? We haven’t had that for how long.
“And I believe that, I don’t have much longer left, I am 42 years old and I can’t compete with 6’4” Australians that are 23 years old, I can’t do that. But what I can do is, I can build the community, I can build something which is way bigger than all of us. And, if I could use my skill and God-given talent, that’s what I am going to do. So that’s where I’m taking Long Drive, that’s what I want to do in the community of Zimbabwe. I want to help conservation, I want to help junior golf, and I want to help everyone as much as I can and as much as I can reach,” he said.
MacMillan’s vision is to bring other world Long Drive icons into the country as a means of promoting the sport and hopefully, inspiring young generations to take up long drive. He said with the right backing, this will not only help long drive but other causes as well.
“So we use that to entertain, we use that to promote golf, we use that to raise funds for charity, we use that to promote other sports etcetera. With the backing of a lot of people, with the backing of the right people we can potentially and now bring those guys from the World Long Drive scene, the tours and what not, bring them here to Zimbabwe, that’s what I am trying to do.
“To get us to go around the country, entertain the crowds, put on shows, have competitions and things that actually this country has never seen before. When you got four guys hitting it like I can out there, against each other, it is quite something, it is a nail-biting sport. What it’s about, it’s creating awareness of different things, like charities.
“We want to be the guys that get paid a lot of money, to be honest, but give it back to something that is bigger than us and that is from my heart in Zimbabwe. I want to do massive things for conservation, I want to leave a legacy for my children. The way I’m doing that is, so that I can kind of bring these guys from the States, these big names etcetera and show them what I have been doing. I bet most people didn’t even know that there was a sport called Long Drive. Let’s be honest,” said MacMillan.
MacMillan is a pioneering Long driver in Zimbabwe and is now based in the USA. He called on the corporates to support his noble cause. His CrossFit training has undoubtedly contributed to his impressive strength and endurance, allowing him to generate the power needed for record-breaking drives.
Long drive is a sport where players compete to hit or drive a golf ball the farthest. For anyone watching, it is highly entertaining.
“I am a pioneering Long driver in Zimbabwe. I have been in the States, competing there. Potentially Canada, couldn’t get there, potentially Europe, couldn’t get there. I am trying to get the Zimbabwean flag up to where it should be. This sport put us on top, which I did last year in one of the tours. We have two tours, the ULD and the WLD and I was the world champion in the ULD 2023 Open Division.
“I have been competing across there but I’m at a place where I’m struggling to keep myself there with sponsors and visas and all that kind of stuff. But, I have come back and I am starting to do the groundwork from herein and trying to get the Zimbabwean parastatals, the Zimbabwean people and corporates to back what I am doing.
“It’s not about me competing and winning competitions but there is a bigger picture to what I am trying to do. So as Long Drivers, what we try to do is, we have the ability to entertain, people like seeing the ball hit a long way, some people that play golf appreciate it,” said MacMillan.—@brandon_malvin
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