Each year more than 10,000 golfers in 19 different countries try to qualify for the World Long Drive Championships. For most long drive hopefuls the process starts at a Local just like the one in this video.
I thought I’d give you a quick tour to show you what it takes just to make it to the big show.
THE LOCAL QUALIFICATION PROCESS
To get to the Championship tournament you have to first win a local qualifier. At the Pleasanton Golf Center we have three local qualifiers each year in May, June, and July.
Golfers sign up, pay their entry fee, and hit 6 balls. Only the longest ball is counted. The ball has to land in the grid and stay in the grid. The grid is 50 yards wide and 390 yards deep.
It’s a straight shoot-out, with the top one or two hitters from each local qualifier advancing to the Regional championship tournament. Golfers can hit as many 6-ball sets as they want, although they have to pay a separate entry fee for each set. There are separate brackets for the Open division and the Senior division.
There are three or four facilities throughout California that host local qualifiers like this one. California is part of District 2, which also includes Arizona and Nevada.
THE REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
That means the Regional Championship pits local winners against winners from other local qualifiers from all three states. Similar competitions are going on throughout the country in every state.
Once you make it to the Regionals you are typically competing against 60 to 100 other golfers.
The Regionals are run just like the Worlds. It’s a double-elimination tournament. Golfers are seeded into 8-man brackets. The top four hitters in each bracket advance to the next round. In round 2 a new 8-man bracket is formed from the two groups of four winners. The process continues with winners consolidated into new brackets until the tournament is over.
Losers fall to the consolation bracket. Lose twice and you are done.
Out of the Regionals only the top three or four finishers advance to the Big Show.
At each level the competition gets progressively tougher.
I competed in and won the local qualifier for the Senior division in June, so when I shot this video I was already set to go to the Regionals.
But I like to hang around and help the guys when they are getting ready. As you might imagine I have a lot of long drivers from all over the West who come to me for lessons.
For the most part I take them all through my training program “The 5 Keys To Distance.” It’s the training program I use myself, and I don’t know of any other program developed specifically to help with distance off the tee. I invite you to learn more about it by clicking the link.
