The Amateur Long Drive World Championships just concluded at Cog Hill, near Chicago and Canadian hitters ?? won 2 World titles. Long drive is a sport where you hit your golf drive as far as possible. It is a game of speed and accuracy as the grid is only 45 yards wide.
All the equipment used in long drive is conforming to the rules of golf. Each set is 6 balls and hitters have 2 minutes in which to hit them. Only the longest drive inside the grid is measured.
Long Drive for amateur golfers is making a resurgence in Canada and ALD Canada is leading the charge. Tour Commissioner and 5-time Canadian ILDC champion, Fareen “Far” Samji is at the helm of this charge and is passionate about growing the sport in Canada. “Canada has so many talented long drive pros that have won multiple world championships, but we have never had an amateur circuit that helps build the sport at the ground level,” says Samji. ” ALD Canada is working towards making the sport of long drive accessible and available to anyone in Canada who drives the ball far and wants a chance to have some fun and compete, no matter their age,” says Samji.
This year ALD Canada held 3 events in Alberta and 3 events in Ontario as a series of qualifiers for every age group by gender. At each event hitters hit the ball as far as they could and earned ranking points. The Top points winners were then selected to go to the World Championships which were Sept 15th – 18th at Cog Hill, near Chicago.
Canada made a mark at the world championships!
Womens 45+ Kelly Rudney of Kitchener placed 2nd after a heartbreaking final set that left none of her 6 balls in the grid.
Womens Open Kelly earned her redemption when she won the women’s open division a day later with a drive of almost 270 yards. ” Honestly, that setfrom the day before didn’t even cross my mind during the women’s final. I just knew I could win and had to hit my best ball and keep it in play,” says Rudney.
Other hitters in the women’s division were:
Olivia Megan Lee, Toronto, Ontario – 3rd place 237 yards
Miranda Wolfram, Kingston, Ontario – 4th place – 229 yards
Hannah Penner Beshk, Manitoba finished 6th – 209 yards.
Mens Open Division – Shawn Moreau of Montreal, Quebec finished T8 and Cody Billinghurst of Blind River, Ontario finished 3rd in the men’s division. It was a tight race to the elimination rounds and it came right down to Moreau’s last ball that he had to get past 326 yards to make the top 8 – and he did with a 333-yard drive. Billinghurst blasted a 344-yard drive to settle for 3rd.
Billinghurst then went on to compete in the pro division and launched a 351 yard to place him in the Top 7 among the world’s best pro long drivers.
Other Men’s Open Division hitters that were just shy of the 326-yard mark to get into the top 8 were:
Colton Hamm, Calgary, Alberta – 320 yards
Cam Ellingson, Edmonton, Alberta – 307 yards
Curtis Sjodin, Medicine Hat, Alberta – 294 yards
Jeremy Dempster, BC- 298 yards
Sandy Porter, Hagersville, ON – 306 yards
Brendan Wise, Peterbourough, ON – 321 yards
Junior Girls U17 MacKenzie Kennedy of Whitby, Ontario won the world championships with a 208-yard drive.
Junior Boys U17 Colin Pasitney of St Paul, Alberta came 2nd after the closest match of the event with a 344-yard drive.
ALD Canada is actively recruiting long drivers in all age groups to build Team Canada for next year’s world championships. If you can crush your drives or know anyone who can, please reach out to Far Samji at www.aldcanada.com and get yourself registered.
