Mike Austin is best known for his 515 yard drive in the National Senior Open in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1974.
Amazingly he was 64 years old at the time. It is believed that the swing speed required for the shot must have been in excess of 150 mph, which Mike had already recorded at the University of Illinois around 1936. Mike used a Wilson Staff persimmon headed driver with one of the Best Driver Shafts, a 43″ steel shaft, and a Titleist 100 compression ball.
Mike earned several degrees, including engineering and physics, and a PhD in Kinesiology in 1946 from the National Academy of Applied Sciences. His swing technique differs from today’s conventional teaching – but science and mathematics bear out that it is the longest, straightest hitting motion possible, with the least stress on the joints. He is considered by some to be the Leonardo Da Vinci of golf.