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Steamboat Springs — Golfers putting on hole No. 10 at Haymaker Golf Course should heed a simple warning.

The hole that runs adjacent to the driving range and seems well out of distance is right in Sean Winter's wheelhouse.

The native of Kanorado, Kan., and former Bethany College football and baseball standout goes long.

Real, real long.

Winter has been competing in long-drive contests only for about a year, but judging by his build - 6-foot-4, 245 pounds and Popeye-esque forearms - the local accountant has everything it takes to make it on the national long-drive scene.

It also helps that his swing speed average is right at about 142 miles per hour.

"I would go to the driving range 20 or 25 times a year," Winter said. "Somebody said, "You should do this," because they knew my golf game sucked but knew how I could hit it. I started getting serious towards the end of last year."

That's when Winter - who has lived in Steamboat for four years - started looking at local qualifying events. Last season, he went to one in Colorado Springs and another in Red Lodge, Mont.

The long-drive competitions are broken down into local, regional and national events. To get through the local portion, golfers have to be in the top 10 percent of entrants. If a golfer wins his region, they get to go to Mesquite, Nev., for the RE/MAX World Long Drive Competition.

In Colorado Springs and Red Lodge, Winter was just one spot out of qualifying for a regional spot.

Considering he was playing with a driver he just bought, right off the shelf, Winter said he's starting to get more serious about the competitions.

At Red Lodge, his longest recorded drive was 357 yards. Golfers have to hit their drives inside a 40-yard-wide fairway to get recorded

"I hit one at Red Lodge 401 yards that was two feet out of bounds," Winter said. "You just got to get them inbounds. That 40 yards gets pretty narrow."

But now that Winter realizes he has a chance to actually compete, he's become much more serious. Realizing that last year's World Long Drive Champion Jamie Sadlowski won with a 418-yard drive, Winter has some new goals in mind.

He started researching what types of drivers he'd need to be competitive. With the help of Golf Etc., Winter found what he needed.

He now has a driver with a 50-inch shaft and a five-degree head. He goes to the range several times a week and plans on entering several local competitions, the first of which is Aug. 8 in Denver.

"With distance, the main thing is club head speed, and that's mostly influenced by strength," said Scott Matthews, the first assistant pro at Haymaker, who has been working with Winter on his swing. "He's a big, strong kid. Second, he's not afraid to swing at the ball. He's able to center the ball up."

Winter, who enjoys the game but admits he's not very good, is pretty much self-taught.

When he was younger, he'd go to the range late at night to get golf balls, then go home and hit them out into the fields. When it was time to work on the farm, he'd go back out and pick them up.

He said he's starting to get more into the game - he normally shoots in the high 90s - but is really focusing on the long-drive contest.

"My short-term goal is, I want to qualify for a regional event and see that atmosphere," said Winter, who now averages about 375 yards a drive. "I want to make it to regionals. I'd love to make it to Mesquite. If I really get after it, Mesquite isn't out of the question. Practicing four or five times a week, I really don't think competing at that level is out of reach."