The Volvik World Long Drive Championship is an annual long drive competition in the sport of golf. It was first held in 1974, and since 2000 has comprised Open, Masters (over-45s) and Women's events.
From 1995 to 2015, the events were owned and produced by Long Drivers of America. In 2016 the Golf Channel took control of the World Long Drive Championship under the World Long Drive Association. The Golf Channel stopped producing World Long Drive Association events in 2020. A new organization called the Professional Long Drivers Association has since been founded and took over the championship, initially called the National Long Drive Championship because of restrictions in 2020, and since returning to the World Championship name in 2021.
Canadian Jason Zuback is the most successful competitor with five wins in the Open division, including four in a row between 1996 and 1999, and one in the Masters division. Swede Sandra Carlborg is the most successful female competitor, with five titles in the Women's division since 2011.
Golfers are required to use a USGA-approved club with a maximum length of 48 inches. In each round, competitors have two minutes and 30 seconds to hit Six golf balls; to be counted as a scoring shot, the ball must land in "the grid", a range that varies from 45 to 60 yards wide and 420-450 yards long. Competitors progress through group-stages to reach the final 16, which is conducted as a single-elimination tournament.
HistoryEdit
1974–85: The early yearsEdit
Some of the early events were held in conjunction with the PGA Championship each year, with the long drive championship being contested a day or two before the PGA's opening round.
Jim Dent won the first two events in 1974 and 1975. Evan "Big Cat" Williams won the next two events in 1976 and 1977. Andy Franks became the third two-time winner, capturing his second title in 1982 after also winning in 1979.[1] Players from the PGA Tour often participated in some of the early long drive championships, with veteran Tour player Lon Hinkle winning the event in 1981. Of note was the creativity of 1984 champion Larry "Wedgy" Winchester who used an unconventionally long 60-inch club to register a winning drive of 319 yards and finish ahead of touring pros Hinkle and Payne Stewart, who finished second and third.[2] Scott DeCandia won the first of his two titles in 1980.
1986–95: ParityEdit
The next decade of the long drive event featured nine different champions, with only Art Sellinger managing two titles in the 10-year span (1986, 1991). DeCandia won his second title in this span with the others all being first-time champions. Sean Fister closed out this 10-year period in 1995 with the first of what would be three long drive titles for him. The longest recorded winning drive in this 10-year stretch was Darryl Anderson's 345-yard shot in 1994 but that still fell short of Williams' then-record winning drive of 353 yards in 1977.
1996–2006: The Jason Zuback eraEdit
Zuback became the first player since Williams in the inaugural two events to win consecutive championships. In fact, Zuback won four straight from 1996-99. He later added a record fifth title (since tied in the women's division by Sandra Carlborg) in 2006. Zuback also was the first to crack the 400-yard barrier with a winning drive of 412 yards in his second win in 1997. The former pharmacist also received a $50,000 first-place check for the 1997 victory, the first winner to eclipse that amount.[3] After his four straight titles and a runner-up finish in 2000, Zuback was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.[4] Clayton Burger became the second to top the 400-yard mark with his winning shot of 402 yards in 2003.[5] Fister added his second and third championship belts with wins in 2001 and 2005, joining Zuback as the only men to win three or more titles. Former Big Ten champion javelin thrower Carl Wolter (Penn State) won the first of his two titles in 2002 in a major upset, having just taken up the game of golf three months prior to the event.[6]
2007–19: 400 plus yards becomes the normEdit
The 400-yard mark was topped by eight champions in the next 11 years with Justin James establishing a tournament-record mark of 435 yards in capturing the 2017 championship. James' record-breaking drive turned out to be much more than he needed. After his finals competitor missed the grid on all eight of his drives, James only needed to keep one in play at a minimum distance of 270 yards. He easily topped that distance and set the record for the longest winning drive in the tournament's 42-year history.[7] This 11-year time frame also featured four two-time winners with Jamie Sadlowski going back-to-back in 2008 and 2009, Joe Miller winning in 2010 and 2016, former University of Miami baseball pitcher Tim Burke in 2013 and 2015 [8] and most recently Kyle Berkshire claiming the final World Long Drive Association title in 2019. In addition, Wolter won his second title in 2011.[9] First-time winners in this time period also included Mike Dobbyn in 2007, Ryan Winther in 2012, Jeff Flagg in 2014 and Maurice Allen in 2018.[10]
2020–present: The Two Ownership Changes and a Major Winner JoinsEdit
During the global pandemic in 2020, Comcast shuts down the World Long Drive Association (WLD) and cancels the World Long Drive Championship. Long drivers, with coach Bobby Peterson and a number of professionals, form the charter for a new sanctioning body, the Professional Long Drivers Association (PLDA). The initial PLDA events in 2020 are held in Peterson's North Carolina coaching facility, with the PLDA forming its first season finale in Memphis, the PLDA National Championship. Kyle Berkshire repeats his end-of-season championship title in Memphis for 2020. The event is upgraded to World Championship status in 2021, where 2020 U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau joins the investor group that jointly owns the PLDA. Berkshire repeats in 2021 as the PLDA championship winner.[11]
Berkshire is eliminated in the Round of 16 at the 2022 championship, where Martin Borgmeier defeated Bryson DeChambeau, 426-406, in the final.
The PLDA is acquired by GF Sports and Entertainment in late 2022, which acquires the assets of World Long Drive in January 2023, merging the two assets into a reformed World Long Drive.[12]
^"World Long Drive History – World Long Drive". World Long Drive. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
^"2002: Unknown outblasts Daly, other big boys". Golfweek. 2002-11-16. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
^"WATCH: Justin James leaps into stands after World Long Drive Championship win". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
^"Burke takes home long drive title at 427 yards". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
^"Sadlowski upset at Re/Max World Long Drive Championship". Golf.com. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
^"Flagg captures long drive title at 365 yards". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-06-15.
^Colgan, James (March 11, 2022). "Pro Long Drivers Association returns for 2nd season ... and Bryson is a part-owner". golf.com. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
^"GF SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT ACQUIRES WORLD LONG DRIVE, PLDA, INKS DEAL WITH NBC SPORTS ON GOLF CHANNEL". GF Sports and Entertainment. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
^"Mike-Dobbyn-joins-Zero-Friction-Performance-professional-staff". World Golf. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
^ ab"Super Freak: The longest hitter in history". Golf.com. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
^"About Jamie". jamiesadlowski.net. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
^"Garner, Berkshire Claim 2019 World Long Drive Championship".
^"WATCH: The 422-Yard Monster Drive That Helped Kyle Berkshire Retain the Long Drive Championship Title". 2 October 2021.
^ "Martin Borgmeier wins 2022 PLDA World Championship, Bryson DeChambeau finishes second". 2 October 2022.
^"2018 VWLD Championship Masters Results". World Long Drive. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
^ Michael Arace. "Big hitter, the Lama: Mike Bauman wins national long-drive championship". Retrieved 2022-09-22.
^"2018 VWLD Championship Women's Results". World Long Drive. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
^"Garner, Berkshire Claim 2019 World Long Drive Championship". World Long Drive. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
^ "2022 PLDA Women's World Championship Day 2". YouTube. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
September 01, 2023
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The Volvik World Long Drive Championship is an annual long drive competition in the sport of golf It was first held in 1974 and since 2000 has comprised Open Masters over 45s and Women s events From 1995 to 2015 the events were owned and produced by Long Drivers of America In 2016 the Golf Channel took control of the World Long Drive Championship under the World Long Drive Association The Golf Channel stopped producing World Long Drive Association events in 2020 A new organization called the Professional Long Drivers Association has since been founded and took over the championship initially called the National Long Drive Championship because of restrictions in 2020 and since returning to the World Championship name in 2021 Canadian Jason Zuback is the most successful competitor with five wins in the Open division including four in a row between 1996 and 1999 and one in the Masters division Swede Sandra Carlborg is the most successful female competitor with five titles in the Women s division since 2011 Contents 1 Format and rules 2 History 2 1 1974 85 The early years 2 2 1986 95 Parity 2 3 1996 2006 The Jason Zuback era 2 4 2007 19 400 plus yards becomes the norm 2 5 2020 present The Two Ownership Changes and a Major Winner Joins 3 Winners 4 Masters winners 5 Womens winners 6 ReferencesFormat and rules EditGolfers are required to use a USGA approved club with a maximum length of 48 inches In each round competitors have two minutes and 30 seconds to hit Six golf balls to be counted as a scoring shot the ball must land in the grid a range that varies from 45 to 60 yards wide and 420 450 yards long Competitors progress through group stages to reach the final 16 which is conducted as a single elimination tournament History Edit1974 85 The early years Edit Some of the early events were held in conjunction with the PGA Championship each year with the long drive championship being contested a day or two before the PGA s opening round Jim Dent won the first two events in 1974 and 1975 Evan Big Cat Williams won the next two events in 1976 and 1977 Andy Franks became the third two time winner capturing his second title in 1982 after also winning in 1979 1 Players from the PGA Tour often participated in some of the early long drive championships with veteran Tour player Lon Hinkle winning the event in 1981 Of note was the creativity of 1984 champion Larry Wedgy Winchester who used an unconventionally long 60 inch club to register a winning drive of 319 yards and finish ahead of touring pros Hinkle and Payne Stewart who finished second and third 2 Scott DeCandia won the first of his two titles in 1980 1986 95 Parity Edit The next decade of the long drive event featured nine different champions with only Art Sellinger managing two titles in the 10 year span 1986 1991 DeCandia won his second title in this span with the others all being first time champions Sean Fister closed out this 10 year period in 1995 with the first of what would be three long drive titles for him The longest recorded winning drive in this 10 year stretch was Darryl Anderson s 345 yard shot in 1994 but that still fell short of Williams then record winning drive of 353 yards in 1977 1996 2006 The Jason Zuback era Edit Zuback became the first player since Williams in the inaugural two events to win consecutive championships In fact Zuback won four straight from 1996 99 He later added a record fifth title since tied in the women s division by Sandra Carlborg in 2006 Zuback also was the first to crack the 400 yard barrier with a winning drive of 412 yards in his second win in 1997 The former pharmacist also received a 50 000 first place check for the 1997 victory the first winner to eclipse that amount 3 After his four straight titles and a runner up finish in 2000 Zuback was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame 4 Clayton Burger became the second to top the 400 yard mark with his winning shot of 402 yards in 2003 5 Fister added his second and third championship belts with wins in 2001 and 2005 joining Zuback as the only men to win three or more titles Former Big Ten champion javelin thrower Carl Wolter Penn State won the first of his two titles in 2002 in a major upset having just taken up the game of golf three months prior to the event 6 2007 19 400 plus yards becomes the norm Edit The 400 yard mark was topped by eight champions in the next 11 years with Justin James establishing a tournament record mark of 435 yards in capturing the 2017 championship James record breaking drive turned out to be much more than he needed After his finals competitor missed the grid on all eight of his drives James only needed to keep one in play at a minimum distance of 270 yards He easily topped that distance and set the record for the longest winning drive in the tournament s 42 year history 7 This 11 year time frame also featured four two time winners with Jamie Sadlowski going back to back in 2008 and 2009 Joe Miller winning in 2010 and 2016 former University of Miami baseball pitcher Tim Burke in 2013 and 2015 8 and most recently Kyle Berkshire claiming the final World Long Drive Association title in 2019 In addition Wolter won his second title in 2011 9 First time winners in this time period also included Mike Dobbyn in 2007 Ryan Winther in 2012 Jeff Flagg in 2014 and Maurice Allen in 2018 10 2020 present The Two Ownership Changes and a Major Winner Joins Edit During the global pandemic in 2020 Comcast shuts down the World Long Drive Association WLD and cancels the World Long Drive Championship Long drivers with coach Bobby Peterson and a number of professionals form the charter for a new sanctioning body the Professional Long Drivers Association PLDA The initial PLDA events in 2020 are held in Peterson s North Carolina coaching facility with the PLDA forming its first season finale in Memphis the PLDA National Championship Kyle Berkshire repeats his end of season championship title in Memphis for 2020 The event is upgraded to World Championship status in 2021 where 2020 U S Open champion Bryson DeChambeau joins the investor group that jointly owns the PLDA Berkshire repeats in 2021 as the PLDA championship winner 11 Berkshire is eliminated in the Round of 16 at the 2022 championship where Martin Borgmeier defeated Bryson DeChambeau 426 406 in the final The PLDA is acquired by GF Sports and Entertainment in late 2022 which acquires the assets of World Long Drive in January 2023 merging the two assets into a reformed World Long Drive 12 Winners Edit1974 Jim Dent 324 yards 1975 Jim Dent 317 yards 1976 Evan Williams 307 yards 1977 Evan Williams 353 yards 1978 John McComish 330 yards 1979 Andy Franks 314 yards 1980 Scott DeCandia 295 yards 1981 Lon Hinkle 338 yards 1982 Andy Franks 346 yards 1983 Terry Forcum 307 yards 1984 Wedgy Winchester 319 yards 1985 Dennis Paulson 323 yards 1986 Art Sellinger 311 yards 1987 Joe Walsh 314 yards 1988 Jim Maynard 334 yards 1989 Scott DeCandia 327 yards 1990 Frank Miller 328 yards 1991 Art Sellinger 326 yards 1992 Monte Scheinblum 329 yards 1993 Brian Pavlet 336 yards 1994 Darryl Anderson 345 yards 1995 Sean Fister 362 yards 1996 Jason Zuback Canada 351 yards 1997 Jason Zuback Canada 412 yards 1998 Jason Zuback Canada 361 yards 1999 Jason Zuback Canada 376 yards 2000 Viktor Johansson Sweden 315 yards 2001 Sean Fister USA 376 yards 2002 Carl Wolter USA 384 yards 2003 Clayton Burger USA 402 yards 2004 David Mobley USA 377 yards 2005 Sean Fister USA 377 yards 2006 Jason Zuback Canada 368 yards 2007 Mike Dobbyn USA 13 385 yards 2008 Jamie Sadlowski Canada 14 dead link 15 418 yards 2009 Jamie Sadlowski Canada 14 384 yards 2010 Joe Miller UK 414 yards 2011 Carl Wolter USA 409 yards 2012 Ryan Winther USA 343 yards 2013 Tim Burke USA 427 yards 2014 Jeff Flagg USA 365 yards 2015 Tim Burke USA 394 yards 2016 Joe Miller UK 423 yards 2017 Justin James 435 yards 2018 Maurice Allen USA 393 yards 2019 Kyle Berkshire 16 406 yards 2020 Kyle Berkshire 17 383 yards PLDA National Championship first under new sanctioning body 2021 Kyle Berkshire 18 422 yards PLDA World Championship first full season of PLDA 2022 nbsp Martin Borgmeier 426 yards 19 Masters winners Edit1996 Michael Hooper 333 yards 1997 Michael Hooper 371 yards 1998 Michael Hooper 354 yards 1999 Fred Hooter 352 yards 2000 Mike Gorton 310 yards 2001 Ted Fostey 357 yards 2002 Pat Dempsey USA 342 yards 2003 Eric Jones USA 381 yards 2004 Bobby Wilson 360 yards 2005 Gerry James 366 yards 2006 Gerry James 378 yards 2007 Frank Miller 394 yards 2008 Dan Boever 366 yards 2009 Bobby Wilson 374 yards 2010 George Slupski 389 yards 2011 David Mobley 459 yards 2012 Eric Lastowka USA 355 yards 2013 Stephen Kennedy 369 yards 2014 Jeff Gavin Canada 384 yards 2015 Jason Zuback 339 yards 2016 Tom Peppard USA 347 yards 2017 Jeff Crittenden 363 yards 2018 Eddie Fernandes 20 2019 Jeff Crittenden 2020 Mile Bauman 343 yards 21 PLDA National Championship 2021 Jeff Gavin 361 yards PLDA World Championship 2022 Eddie Fernandes 411 yardsWomens winners Edit2000 Stacey Shinnick 249 yards 2001 Lee Brandon 291 yards 2002 Stacey Shinnick 292 yards 2003 Nancy Abiecunas 332 yards 2004 Sally Dee 287 yards 2005 Stacey Shinnick 311 yards 2006 Phillis Meti 326 yards 2007 Sheila Kelliher 329 yards 2008 Lana Lawless 245 yards 2009 N A 2010 N A 2011 Sandra Carlborg 285 yards 2012 Sandra Carlborg 339 yards 2013 Heather LeMaster 306 yards 2014 Sandra Carlborg 332 yards 2015 Sandra Carlborg 321 yards 2016 Phillis Meti 310 yards 2017 Sandra Carlborg 320 yards 2018 Phillis Meti 22 317 yards 2019 Chloe Garner 23 347 yards 2021 Kanani Lodge 332 yards 2022 Sara Owada 776 yards cumulative 258 7 yard average best three shots format 24 References Edit 346 Yard Shot Tops Long Drive Contest NewsOK com 1982 08 04 Retrieved 2018 06 15 Using an unconventional 60 inch driver Wedgy Winchester of Phoenix UPI Retrieved 2018 06 15 NEWS AND NOTES Vault Retrieved 2018 06 15 Shelsea Zuback Jason Retrieved 2018 06 15 World Long Drive History World Long Drive World Long Drive Retrieved 2018 06 15 2002 Unknown outblasts Daly other big boys Golfweek 2002 11 16 Retrieved 2018 06 15 WATCH Justin James leaps into stands after World Long Drive Championship win CBSSports com Retrieved 2018 06 15 Burke takes home long drive title at 427 yards ESPN com Retrieved 2018 06 15 Sadlowski upset at Re Max World Long Drive Championship Golf com Retrieved 2018 06 15 Flagg captures long drive title at 365 yards ESPN com Retrieved 2018 06 15 Colgan James March 11 2022 Pro Long Drivers Association returns for 2nd season and Bryson is a part owner golf com Retrieved 23 March 2023 GF SPORTS amp ENTERTAINMENT ACQUIRES WORLD LONG DRIVE PLDA INKS DEAL WITH NBC SPORTS ON GOLF CHANNEL GF Sports and Entertainment Retrieved 2023 03 22 Mike Dobbyn joins Zero Friction Performance professional staff World Golf Retrieved 15 July 2011 a b Super Freak The longest hitter in history Golf com Retrieved 15 July 2011 About Jamie jamiesadlowski net Retrieved 15 July 2011 Garner Berkshire Claim 2019 World Long Drive Championship 2020 PLDA National Championship WATCH The 422 Yard Monster Drive That Helped Kyle Berkshire Retain the Long Drive Championship Title 2 October 2021 Martin Borgmeier wins 2022 PLDA World Championship Bryson DeChambeau finishes second 2 October 2022 2018 VWLD Championship Masters Results World Long Drive Retrieved 2019 02 21 Michael Arace Big hitter the Lama Mike Bauman wins national long drive championship Retrieved 2022 09 22 2018 VWLD Championship Women s Results World Long Drive Retrieved 2019 02 21 Garner Berkshire Claim 2019 World Long Drive Championship World Long Drive Retrieved 2019 09 05 2022 PLDA Women s World Championship Day 2 YouTube Retrieved 2022 09 20 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title World Long Drive Championship amp oldid 1161262129, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
