The World Long Drive returns this weekend to La Salle, Colorado, with all divisions participating. The last WLD event took place in Mesquite Nevada, where the world saw Sebastian Twaddell capture the first championship of his young and promising career. The 22-year-old Aussie was able to land his final ball inbounds at 417 yards to outlast Josh Koch. While the women were not at the most recent event in May, Monica Lieving, will be looking to make it 3 for 3, as she has won both events earlier this season in Mesquite and Hobe Sound.
With all the divisions back for this event, fans of World Long Drive will be in for a great show and should be on the lookout for another broken world record. Just last year, Josh Koch, got as close to 500 yards as anyone has been in WLD competition. Josh’s drive of 496 yds is the longest drive hit in Long Drive Competition in the United States ever, and with the elevation a factor in Colorado, this weekend we could see a 500-yard drive. Because the air is less dense at higher altitudes, like Colorado, the golf ball will not slice or hook as much as it would at other stops on the WLD tour. With the density of the air being less than normal, golf balls hit at high speeds will be able to travel further before losing speed and descending to the ground.
With the record on his mind, Josh Koch will be a name to watch this weekend as he is fresh off a victory in Germany. Amongst many other WLD members, Josh persevered through a slow morning in the round-robin to win his first event of the year. Josh did fall to Sebastian Twaddell at the last WLD event in May, as Seb will now look to make it two in a row after tasting victory for the first-time last month. Another player to keep an eye on is Sam Judah. Sam missed the first event of the year, but since has rattled off top five finishes in every event. Not to forget, players like Justin James, Martin Borgmeier, and Kyle Berkshire remain the top three ranked in the world and are always a threat, especially if they get hot.
In the women’s division, Monica Lieving has been untouchable this year, winning both events this season. Now she is hitting in her home state, which should give her an advantage and confidence to win her third straight WLD trophy of the year. Another name to watch for is Mary Driscoll, who fell to Monica in the finals in Hobe Sound after making a fantastic run as the last competitor to make it into the quarterfinals. One more competitor to always have an eye on, is world # 1 Devon Casazza, who gave great performance but just fell short in the first two events this season. Finally, the dark horse of the event in the women’s division and one of the youngest competitors in the field is Gabbi Powell. Powell advanced to both quarterfinals this year and has been knocking on the door. The woman’s division is loaded with WLD competitors who can all get hot and are within margins of winning.
The event kicks off with the Amateur division on Friday June 9th, at 8:00 AM for the, followed by the Local Qualifier starting at 1:00 PM. Saturday June 10th, the Open division will begin at 8:00 AM as 64 men split into four different groups compete with the hopes of being in the top 8 of their division and advancing into round 2. After the Open division is done for the day, the senior division will begin at 4:30, which will run until we have a champion. Sunday, we continue with Round 2 of the Open Division at 8:00 AM, followed by the Woman’s division starting at 12:30 PM and going until we crown our champion. Once a champion has been crowned for the women, round 3 will begin for the men, in which the top 8 advance to quarterfinals. The quarterfinals start at 4:30 and switch to a Head-to-Head format which goes until we have our champion.
The stream will begin on Saturday at 8:00 AM and will cover all the groups in the Open Division. The stream will also show the Senior Division Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and finals until a champion is crowned. On Sunday, the stream will begin at 8:00 AM once again for the Open Division and then again at 12:30 for the Woman’s Division until a champion is crowned. And finally, the Open Division final rounds will start at 2:30, with the Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals directly after that round.
As always, to find the weekend’s schedule head over to https://worldlongdrive.com/player-list/, and stay up to date during the event on our Instagram @Worldlongdrive.