Petite Bianca Finn from Rugby (Whitefields) teed up at the London Golf Show Longest Drive event alongside established musclemen Paul Slater and Phil Naylor – as well as sporting and showbiz amateurs like Simon Shaw and Rick Wakeman – and belted her way into the records with a massive 510-yard drive. While this is a full 201 yards further than the current Women’s European record held by Kath Massey from Worcester, it must correctly be called the European long drive runway record, owing to the particular circumstances of Saturday’s event.

“It’s a terrific achievement,” commented LDE’s Chris Weeks. “As well as the distance itself, of the hundreds of balls hit on the day, Bianca’s was the only one that actually came to a halt on the runway itself… plumb in the middle too.”

In the same afternoon, PGA Professional Paul Slater topped the existing 696 yard record set by New Zealander Stuart Appleby, when he drove the ball an astonishing 720 yards along the airport’s main runway.

At a presentation later in the day, Slater said, “The kids were awesome. That was the best part of the day for me, seeing their confidence.” While Bianca Finn was the one who turned everybody’s heads with her quiet getting-on-with-the-job approach, Slater was referring to all four juniors who also competed on the day. 11 year-old Rhys Pugh from Pontypridd hit 385 yards, 14 year-old Daniel Gosling from Bristol also hit 385 yards and 7 year-old Maxwell Martin from Solihull hit 303 yards. All established records for their age groups.

London Golf Show MD Ross Broadstock said, “Their performance was fabulous. I was delighted to see them hitting the ball so well. Without youngsters we wouldn’t have a future for the sport.”

Bianca’s record was made with a BitePower 12° driver - a new brand of club specifically designed to assist teenage golfers and the only brand outside of the USA to cater specifically to this age group.