James Tait: Who is the World Long Drive star?

James Tait isn’t just one of the stars of the professional World Long Drive scene. He’s also the gear editor for bunkered!

Tait, 33, has made a huge impression at last week’s World Long Drive Championship at the Bobby Jones Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia, where he finished in third place.

Making his third appearance in the tournament, the St Andrews-based golfer has advanced to the latter stages of the competition for the first time.

A descendant of two-time Amateur champion Freddie Tait, his Long Drive journey began in 2017 when his sister persuaded him to go to a simulator tournament at a London branch of golf retailer American Golf.

“I stepped up to the simulator and hit one 350, then 360, then 370,” explained Tait, a talented high-jumper and rugby player in his teens. “The guy running it told me to hit one without caring where the ball goes, so I did and it went 392 yards. He told me my ball speed was over 200 miles-per-hour, while my clubhead speed was 144.

Swinging for the fences leading up to @WorldLongDrive World Championships 🔥 Numbers on the @TrackManGolf were decent considering jet lag 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/B0eqU5ICfz

— James Tait (@jamestait89) October 16, 2023

“The guy said I should think about taking long drive competing a bit more seriously, and it just snowballed from there.”

Inspired by two-time World Long Drive champion Joe Miller, he started working with renowned coach Lee Cox.

In 2018, he won the Long Drive World Series in Dubai and the German Open Championship, where, incidentally, he beat Martin Borgmeier, the 2022 World Long Drive champion.

Tait joined the bunkered team in June 2022 when he was appointed gear editor.

The face of the bunkered YouTube channel, he reviews all of the latest products, from drivers to launch monitors and everything in between.

Away from the office, however, he has continued to put in the hours as a Long Drive professional, working with coach Andy Cheese out of the St Andrews Links Golf Academy in St Andrews.

For the 2023 World Long Drive Championship, he has been using a specially built Callaway Paradym driver. “It’s a special club,” he says. “I’m very fond of it.”

Prior to this week, his longest drive in a tournament had been 405 yards but he obliterated that PB in during the 2023 World Long Drive Championship, launching a drive measuring 452 yards – the biggest drive hit by any player in the field that week.