This weekend World Long Drive returns to the West Coast for the eighth event of the year. The longest drivers in the world will be headed to West Bountiful, Utah, to compete starting Thursday, August 10th, with the final champion being crowned Saturday, August 12th. This event will feature the Amateur Division, Senior Division, and the Open Division. The last event was jam-packed with milestones as fans witnessed a first-time winner in the Woman’s division, the first 2-time winner of the season in the Open Division, and two new world number 1s.
Justin James returned to the winners circle in Connecticut after missing the last event in Canada due to passport issues. JJ held off Martin Borgmeier in the Semifinals and Mark Costello in the finals with back-to-back 400+ drive sets. This victory was Justin’s first win since Hobe Sound. Even though he did not win, Martin Borgmeier jumped to the top spot in the world rankings for the first time in his career. The German star will be looking to collect his second win of the season as he competes with some additional pressure as the new World Number 1.
The senior division has been a two-man race all year, with Jeff Gavin and Eddie Fernandes, each with three titles a so far. Eddie won the events in Hobe Sound, La Salle and Memphis, while Jeff won the first event of the year in Mesquite and the last two events, in Port Rowan and Portland. The only other senior competitor who has hoisted the trophy this year was Rob Oristaglio, who won Mesquite V2. All three will be competing in Utah as they make a run for the finals.
The World Long Drive will begin on Thursday August 10th at 9:00 AM for the regional qualifier. The regional qualifier will run in a double elimination format, with the top 5 hitters securing themselves a spot in the World Championships in Atlanta. Following the Regional Qualifier, the Amateur division will begin at 1:30 PM with two groups of 16 hitters, the top 8 advancing from each group. The Group of 16 starts at 4:30 PM. Friday, will feature the open division of 64 of the best hitters in the world, broken into four groups of 16. The top 8 hitters in each group will advance through to the round of 32 on Saturday. Saturday kicks off with the Senior Division at 9:00 AM with 16 hitters looking to capture the Senior division Utah championship. The top 8 hitters will advance to the quarterfinals and beyond until a champion has been decided. The Open Division will begin again at 12:00 PM, with the two groups of 16 players hitting in the same round robin format. The top 8 will advance to the next round from each group into the head to head format. The Open Division Matchplay will begin at 3:00 PM until only one competitor is left. To see all the coverage from this upcoming weekend’s event, head over to Worldlongdrive.com under the “Watch” tab, where you will be redirected to our Youtube. For updates throughout the day, follow @Worldlongdrive on Instagram, Twitter and all of our socials.