With a little community support, 12-year-old Liam LaFrance will be headed to Florida for the U13 World Long Drive Championships. LaFrance won the National Finals Event with a drive of 273 yards in Calgary on Sunday, September 18th qualifying for the World Championship.  

“In this competition, you only hit your driver. You’re trying to hit it as far as you can. You got two sets of six balls each and it takes your total longest ball out of those two sets. In his first set he hit one 253 (yards). The gentleman that was leading at the time hit 266 (yards), and then in in his second set he hit 273 and that was the winning drive,” said Liam’s Father, Eric LaFrance. 

His dad believes 273 yards is only Liam’s longest recorded drive. 

“I would say I’ve seen him hit 300 (yards) on the range,” he added.

Before heading out to Florida, Liam intends to fit in as much practice as he can. Liam says it’s important to stay calm before he begins teeing off in competition.

“Just think that you’re alone and then it’s not stressful,” said Liam. 

For the last two years, Liam has been learning to golf at the Lakewood Golf Course in Sylvan Lake as well as taking a couple pointers from his dad. Both Liam and his father are from Blackfalds and share a love of golf. Liam also plays football in Lacombe and lacrosse as well. His father is very proud to see his son represent Canada. 

“One of the proudest moments I think any parent can have is hearing your son or daughter being accepted onto anything for Team Canada. Whether it's chess, or golf, or motocross or anything like that, it’s a pretty special accomplishment that not many people get to experience in their lifetime,” said Eric. 

Liam’s dad has started a GoFundMe to pay for the expenses of the World Championships not wanting him to miss out on the opportunity of a life time due to funding constraints. Getting to this point in competition, hasn’t come at a small price. 

“Liam outgrew his clubs twice already. This season he's gone from junior clubs to adult clubs and anybody that knows competitive golf clubs knows that they’re about $1,000 a set, not including custom drivers or cutting down the clubs to his size and all that extra that goes in. At his level, you can't just go and buy off the rack and expect it to work. We've been fortunate enough to have a gentleman from Lacombe named Jim Chapple who has stepped in and taken Liam under his wing. He's a certified club fitter and he's been doing all the work on Liam’s clubs to help us out,” said Eric. 

Eric says the community has been really supportive and has already come up with nearly a third of the $5,000 goal. His father, is really grateful for the support and hopes others consider the community support when considering youth golf. 

“To me, this isn't just about raising money to get Liam to worlds, this is about growing the sport of youth golf. You don't have to go and shoot par to be able to compete at some of the competition rigged off. There's all sorts of stuff out there. Liam’s talented enough, luckily, that he can compete both on the tournament stage for long drive and the tournament stage for stroke play. But, I definitely know there's kids out there with probably hidden talents that can hit it farther than even Liam. Let's promote this sport and get it out there and get kids out on the golf course,” added Eric. 

The competition in Florida includes competitions for all age levels and includes golfers from all over the world. Liam will be joining a group of 20 to 30 Canadians of all age ranges taking part in the world championships. It will be taking place from October 27th to 30th. You can give some support to Liam by visiting his GoFundMe here.