Ohio man wins virtual golf tournament


September 27, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

Ohio man wins virtual golf tournament

STOW, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man holds a world championship golf title and its $20,000 prize, yet he never touched a club.

Andy Haas from the Akron area recently took top honors in this year’s Las Vegas world championship of the virtual golf game Golden Tee.

The 26-year-old from suburban Stow says he picked up the video game while attending Miami University. Haas practices five hours a day, six days a week, and his winnings have paid the bills since college.

Ohio has about 580 coin-operated Golden Tee machines for playing virtual golf using a touch-sensitive trackball.

Haas says he has always enjoyed regular golf, too, but will leave that game to fellow Stow resident Ben Curtis, a member of the winning Ryder Cup team.