Long Drive Golf Competitions
Hello from Captain Golf and I hope you are having or had a great Sunday. For many it is Father’s Day and I expect several of you are out on the course.
Drum roll. How far do you hit your golf driver?
This week we delve into the world of ‘longest drive golf competitions’, what you need to know and how to compete.
At some point, you have likely smashed a beast of a golf drive. It probably had an awesome trajectory, warped time/speed and resulted in an awesome distance. One of golf’s greatest buzzes and adrenaline rushes is to see the ball land in the middle of the fairway.
One of the world’s best long drive hitters is Bryson De Chambeau. He has been a great advert for hitting long drives.
Technology has improved a lot over the years, so much so, several of the golf federations are considering changes to the golf ball to protect the distances on traditional golf courses. However, do not fear, there are now unique competitions dedicated to this aspect of the sport. Forget the short game, just focus on the long game in this article.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF LONGEST DRIVE COMPETITIONS
Long drive golf competitions are not new. They have been around for a while. In the 1980s they were often held before certain PGA golf events.
More recently ‘The Professional Long Drivers Association (PLDA)’ was formed in 2020, in 2021 it was upgraded to World Championship status. The PLDA was acquired by GF Sports and Entertainment in late 2022, and was then merged with the acquired World Long Drive in January 2023
HOW DO YOU WIN?
The format can vary, often several different classifications for different abilities and ages. A given number of golf balls are issued and then need to be hit within a certain timeframe, the golf balls must land within a designated grid area. The longest hit of those golf balls will either be the distance that makes the score board or points get generated. Quite often a leaderboard will then be translated into a knock out pairing to a final match or group stages will lead to 1-1 elimination.
WHAT EQUIPMENT DO YOU NEED?
Many of the federations have eshops on their websites selling merchandise. However, all you need is your no.1 Driver. Ideally you have been club fitted and the club matches your swing profile/is optimised.
WHAT ARE THE LARGEST LONGEST DRIVE ORGANISATIONS?
Many longest drive golf organisations have emerged, one can only think there will be affiliations, consolidation at some point. Perhaps the Federation with the largest prize money will prevail in the end, and then take all. The events often involve big sponsorship, loud music and a great day out. For good order a few of the major federations/competitions are mentioned here:
World Long Drive
The big event is scheduled for August at the Bobby Jones Golf Club in Atlanta.
There are local and regional qualifiers for this one.
The World Championship is screened on the Golf channel for around two hours.
It is not clear how world players can get exemption other than compete or go via the regional qualifiers. However there are several exemption categories in general, check out the website for more info.
Prize Money: Around 400,000 USD across all divisions.
Entry Fees: Circa 50 USD in qualifying for a batch of 6 balls. Unlimited number of attempts whilst the qualifying event is on. It is not clear how much it then costs for each subsequent round.
Go here for more info.
You can follow the events on instagram and facebook.
Ultimate Long Drive
Ultimate long Drive also known as ‘ULD’ operates the ULD Championship series in the USA. The organisation licences events around the world and includes an annual World Championship event. Players can play for money or points to enter the World Championship event. For those Captain Golf blog readers in the states there are many events taking place which is great to see.
Global partners include Long Drivers of Japan, Gridpro South Africa Long Drivers, Drive for Show Canada, Korea Long Drive Association, Long Drive India, Long Drive Latino America. The website provides a great list and links for given countries on how and where to compete, recommend checking it out. However, there is no UK country on the list, maybe one for the future.
There are 28 longest drive competitions are listed for 2024 across the USA from June to September, quite incredible and demonstrates the strength and breadth of this federation.
Prize Money: Not stated.
Entry Fees: Not stated.
Go here for more info.
ALD Canada
You need to purchase membership before you can register for an actual event, around 100 CAD for the season.
There are many competitions taking place across Canada - go here for more info and where these events are. It seems some events are ‘remote’ in nature where the user can send in a video of a top tracer monitor, but the main series are in person.
This federation clearly state what entry requirements are needed for the different types of competitions. For the main Open competition, clearly you need to hit the ball far, if a bloke that is a minimum of 310 yards!
Prize Money: Not stated.
Entry Fees: 100 CAD membership for the season and entry fees per tournament.
Format: Players get to hit two sets of six balls, and you get 2 minutes to hit all six golf balls. The longest ball out of the 12 is the score that counts.
You can keep up to date with this federation on facebook, instagram, twitter and you tube.
Asia Long Drive
For the remainder of 2024 there are four big competitions
The Japan Long Drive Championship 2nd-4th August 2024
Prize Money: 6,000,000 Yen
Entry Fees: Not stated.
Format: Not stated.
ALDA Macau Tour Event 12th-16th November 2024
Prize Money: 200,000 RMB
Entry Fees: Not stated.
Format: Not stated.
China Long Drive Championship, 12th-16th November 2024
Prize Money: 200,000 RMB
Entry Fees: Not stated.
Format: Not stated.
Asia Long Drive Championship 14th-16th November 2024
Prize Money: 50,000 USD
Entry Fees: Not stated.
Format: Not stated.
For more info on these events go here.
European Long Drive Games: ELD
There is a professional but also an amateur series available.
The format includes each player getting 8 golf balls, the longest ball counts and the ball must land ‘within the grid’,
For 2024 there are 5 tournaments. These include:
11th of May 2024 LD Sports Arena Kalbach Germany.
9th June 2024 International British LD Open, Alder Root Golf Club Warrington, UK.
20th July, LD Castle Open Bad Ems, Golf Club Bad EMS Denzerheide, Germany.
17th August, Hadley Wood Masters, Hadley Wood Golf Club, Barnet, UK.
7-8th September International European LD Championships 2024, Golfanlage Warnemunde, Rostock, Germany.
Prize Money: Not stated.
Entry Fees: Not stated.
You can follow these events via a dedicated facebook page and also instagram.
To enter competitions it seems quite straight forward, you can buy entry and register online.
For more info go here.
European Long Drivers.com
For 2024 it seems there is only one tournament, this will be in Malaga Spain
Real Guadalhorce Golf Club
The hall of fame for this golf federation reports that the top 8 players of all time (at this Tour/Federation) have records ranging between 443 yards and 428 yards respectively.
Prize Money: Pro Comp: 1st, 2,200 Euros, 2nd, 1,200 Euros, 3rd, 900 Euros, 4th, 700 Euros.
Entry Fees: Range from 300 Euros to 25 Euros
This Tour can also be followed on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
For more info go here
TOP TIPS FOR LONGEST DRIVE GOLF
Find the local long drive golf federation in your country.
Check out YouTube for clips on how to smash the driver and hit the ball a long way.
Get a new driver fitted, one that fits your needs, build and dynamics. Explain to the fitter your primary goal and go forth.
Get down the gym and pump some iron.
Enter a competition!
Enjoy it, nothing ventured nothing gained!
Which long drive competition will you be entering? Draw up your list and train like a beast. Let us know how you get on in the comments below.
Catch up next Sunday for more golf insights. If you liked the read add the Captain Golf blog to your favourites and subscribe below to get the latest publication to your inbox.
Get some birdies, take good care, Captain Golf.