Jason “Shooter” Aken I Want to Beat the Best
Golf has been a lifelong passion for Jason “Shooter” Aken. Always a long hitter, he dreamed of someday winning the World Long Drive Championship. Seven years ago, however, that dream was nearly lost in an instant when the last three fingers of his left hand were trapped under a 90-ton press while bending sheet metal at Thorp Equipment. Immediately after the accident he remembers cringing and thinking to himself: “ I have to finish the cycle in order to bring my hand out.” His thoughts then immediately turned to golf as he told me that his next thought was “I’m not going to be able to golf in the spring!” This isn’t going to heal by spring.”
The last three fingers of his left hand had been crushed and they were badly mangled. The damage was so extensive that the three fingers had to be amputated and he was left with permanent nerve pain and hypersensitivity to touch. He wishes, if anything, he had no feeling in it at all. Doctors say eventually the pain may subside.
After the accident, he did not swing a club for two years. He thought he would never be able to play golf again and he didn’t know if he wanted to because he knew he probably wouldn’t be able to hit it like he used to. About five years ago, however, his father encouraged him to play with friends and family, and when he did he realized it wasn’t as hard as he thought.
Since then Shooter has made an amazing and inspirational return to the game and he is once again a scratch golfer. He regularly plays in local tournaments and beats his able-bodied opponents.
A year ago he thought he would try his hand at the sport of long drive and traveled to Denver to compete in Regional Qualifying at the Mile High Showdown. Officials of the grid quickly realized that they were watching something special and started recording Shooters’ drives’ to see if it would be a world record. They learned that the current Guinness World Record is only 282.5 yards. Sadly his drives that day will have to be considered an unofficial record as the Golf Channel crew did not have the camera tower set up at the time and they could not film the complete drive which is required for a world record. Despite not getting the official record he did post five drives over 300 yards with his longest being 367 yards. Amazingly he finished 22nd out of 176 qualifiers.
A few months later he competed at the ParaLong Drive Cup and won a world championship in the one-armed division with a drive of 306 yards. He also finished in the top five overall out of the 39 competitors at the ParaLong Drive Cup.
His long drive odyssey continued in late January at the PGA Show when he was invited to hit on the Golf Channel stage under the watchful eye of a few hundred fans and more than a dozen of the world’s longest drivers. Many of them remembered him from the Mile High Showdown in Denver. Shooter was a little nervous on his first swing but proceeded to make a number of good drives that caught the attention of the crowd.
A few days later he competed in the North American One-Armed Golf Association (NAOAGA) Winter Classic in Tampa and nearly won the title. The event featured 46 of the most inspirational athletes you will ever see including five-time one-armed champion Vince Biser who is paralyzed on his entire right side. Competing in just his first NAOAGA event Shooter went head-to-head against many of the best one-armed golfers in the world and used his brute force to overpower the golf course. He challenged Vince Biser for the title but came up a few shots short because his short game was a little rusty during the long winter in Wisconsin. In the end, he finished in 2nd but showed he is capable of challenging Jesse Florkowski of Canada, the reigning four-time NAOAGA Champion, and Vince Biser for the North American One-Armed Championship.
This past March at Mesquite he defended his world title in the one-armed division at the ParaLong Drive Cup this time defeating Jesse Florkowski by 6 yards with a drive of 323 yards. Shooter also finished fourth overall behind Mike Gays, Chris Arnold, and Nick Stillwell whom all crush the ball despite being below the knee amputees.
For now, he continues to train by lifting weights to further increase his distance in the hopes of challenging the longest hitters in the world. Aken adds, “I never want to feel handicapped. Ever. That’s why I went to the Mile High Showdown to compete against the best guys with two hands. Encouraging and inspiring people keeps me driving, but I want to beat the best in the world.”