What head start does a novice need to beat a golf long drive champion?

It’s the classic pub discussion. You’ve got the Open on the telly, some so-called ‘professional’ hacks another drive into the trees and you loudly proclaim: “I could do better than that.”

Of course, you’ve never played golf in your life.

But it can’t be that hard can it? At the very least, if you had a bit of a headstart - a few extra shots to play with - you could easily beat that muppet who can’t even find a pair of trousers that fit him properly.

We decided to find out, by sending our rank amateur Sam to take on Lucas Dornan, the UK Long Drive Champion. The challenge? To outdrive Lucas with a bit of a sporting headstart.

Watch below and see how we got on. Fans of proper golfing technique, look away now…