World Long Drive Championship

The Volvik World Long Drive Championship is an annual event identifying the longest golf drivers in the world, originating in 1976. Currently, it serves as the culminating event of the World Long Drive Association season and crowns champions in three divisions – Open, Masters and Women's.

The event was initially staged on-site early in the week in conjunction with the PGA Championship. In 1995, The Long Drivers of America (LDA) was established, adding RE/MAX as a title sponsor the same year. A Masters Division (Age 45+) was first staged in 1996, and the Women's Division was added to the competition in 2000. In 2013, Golf Channel – part of NBC Sports Group – began airing the Championship, and in 2015 Comcast acquired the franchise, re-branding it as the World Long Drive Association. Also in 2015, the World Championship transitioned from its typical location in Nevada to WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Okla. In 2017, golf ball manufacturer Volvik became the new title sponsor of the annual World Championship each fall. Since adding World Long Drive to its portfolio, Golf Channel has increased the number of annual televised events. Previously only the Open (Men's) Division Championship was televised, and in 2017 Golf Channel aired three events in total, including the Women's Division being showcased live for the first time ever. Five events are scheduled to be televised in 2018. In addition to its sanctioned schedule in the North America, several events are staged around the world through officially sanctioned World Long Drive Association international partners, including stops in Germany, Japan, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Canadian Jason Zuback has earned a record six championships in the event, including five in the Open Division (four in a row from 1996–1999 and 2006) and one in the Masters Division (2015). Swede Sandra Carlborg has won a record five titles in the Women's Division since 2011.

WLDA competitions require golfers to use a USGA-approved club with a maximum length of 48 inches. In each round, competitors have three minutes to hit eight golf balls: to be counted as a scoring shot, the ball must land in "the grid", a range that varies from 45 to 60 yards wide and long 420-450 yards long. At most tournaments, entrants go through a group-stage first to reach the televised final 16, which are conducted as a knockout bracket.

History[]

The Early Years – 1974-85[]

Some of the early events were held in conjunction with the PGA Championship each year, with the long drive championship being contested a day or two before the PGA's opening round.

Jim Dent won the first two events in 1974 and '75. Evan “Big Cat” Williams won the next two events in 1976 and ’77. Andy Franks became the third two-time winner, capturing his second title in 1982 after also winning in 1979.^[1] Players from the PGA Tour often participated in some of the early long drive championships, with veteran Tour player Lon Hinkle winning the event in 1981. Of note was the creativity of 1984 champion Wedgy Winchester who used an unconventionally long 60-inch club to register a winning drive of 319 yards and finish ahead of touring pros Hinkle and Payne Stewart, who finished second and third.^[2] Scott DeCandia won the first of his two titles in 1980.

1986-95 – Parity[]

The next decade of the long drive event featured nine different champions, with only Art Sellinger managing two titles in the 10-year span (1986, ’91). DeCandia won his second title in this span with the others all being first-time champions. Sean Fister closed out this 10-year period in 1995 with the first of what would be three long drive titles for him. The longest recorded winning drive in this 10-year stretch was Darryl Anderson’s 345-yard shot in 1994 but that still fell short of Williams’ then-record winning drive of 353 yards in 1977.

1996-2006 – The Jason Zuback Era[]

Zuback became the first player since Williams in the inaugural two events to win consecutive championships. In fact, Zuback won four straight from 1996-99. He later added a record fifth title (since tied in the women's division by Sandra Carlborg) in 2006. Zuback also was the first to crack the 400-yard barrier with a winning drive of 412 yards in his second win in 1997. The former pharmacist also received a $50,000 first-place check for the ’97 victory, the first winner to eclipse that amount.^[3] After his four straight titles and a runner-up finish in 2000, Zuback was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.^[4] Clayton Burger became the second to top the 400-yard mark with his winning shot of 402 yards in 2003.^[5] Fister added his second and third championship belts with wins in 2001 and ’05, joining Zuback as the only men to win three or more titles. Former Big Ten champion javelin thrower Carl Wolter (Penn State) won the first of his two titles in 2002 in a major upset, having just taken up the game of golf three months prior to the event.^[6]

2007-Present – 400-Plus Yards Becomes the Norm[]

The 400-yard mark was topped by eight champions in the next 11 years with Justin James establishing a tournament-record mark of 435 yards in capturing the 2017 championship. James’ record-breaking drive turned out to be much more than he needed. After his finals competitor missed the grid on all eight of his drives, James only needed to keep one in play at a minimum distance of 270 yards. He easily topped that distance and set the record for the longest winning drive in the tournament's 42-year history.^[7] This 11-year time frame also featured four two-time winners with Jamie Sadlowski going back-to-back in 2008 and ’09, Joe Miller winning in 2010 and ’16, former University of Miami standout baseball pitcher Tim Burke in 2013 and ’15 ^[8] and most recently Kyle Berkshire claiming back to back titles in 2019 and '21 after the suspension of the tour in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Wolter won his second title in 2011. Miller's win over Sadlowski in the 2010 semifinals prevented Sadlowski from having a chance at winning three straight long drive titles.^[9] First-time winners in this time period also included Mike Dobbyn in 2007, Ryan Winther in 2012, Jeff Flagg in 2014 and Maurice Allen in 2018.^[10]

Winners[]

• 1974 – Jim Dent, 324 yards
• 1975 – Jim Dent, 317 yards
• 1976 – Evan Williams, 307 yards
• 1977 – Evan Williams, 353 yards
• 1978 – John McComish, 330 yards
• 1979 – Andy Franks, 314 yards
• 1980 – Scott DeCandia, 295 yards
• 1981 – Lon Hinkle, 338 yards
• 1982 – Andy Franks, 346 yards
• 1983 – Terry Forcum, 307 yards
• 1984 – Wedgy Winchester, 319 yards
• 1985 – Dennis Paulson, 323 yards
• 1986 – Art Sellinger, 311 yards
• 1987 – Joe Walsh, 314 yards
• 1988 – Jim Maynard, 334 yards
• 1989 – Scott DeCandia, 327 yards
• 1990 – Frank Miller, 328 yards
• 1991 – Art Sellinger, 326 yards
• 1992 – Monte Scheinblum 329 yards
• 1993 – Brian Pavlet, 336 yards
• 1994 – Darryl Anderson, 345 yards
• 1995 – Sean Fister, 362 yards
• 1996 – Jason Zuback Canada 351 yards
• 1997 – Jason Zuback Canada 412 yards
• 1998 – Jason Zuback Canada 361 yards
• 1999 – Jason Zuback Canada 376 yards
• 2000 – Viktor Johansson Sweden 315 yards
• 2001 – Sean Fister USA 376 yards
• 2002 – Carl Wolter USA 384 yards
• 2003 – Clayton Burger USA 402 yards
• 2004 – David Mobley USA 377 yards
• 2005 – Sean Fister USA 377 yards
• 2006 – Jason Zuback USA 368 yards
• 2007 – Mike Dobbyn USA^[11] 385 yards
• 2008 – Jamie Sadlowski Canada^[12][13] 418 yards
• 2009 – Jamie Sadlowski Canada^[12] 384 yards
• 2010 – Joe Miller UK 414 yards
• 2011 – Carl Wolter USA 409 yards
• 2012 – Ryan Winther USA 343 yards
• 2013 – Tim Burke USA 427 yards
• 2014 – Jeff Flagg USA 365 yards
• 2015 – Tim Burke USA 394 yards
• 2016 – Joe Miller UK 423 yards
• 2017 – Justin James 435 yards
• 2018 – Maurice Allen USA 393 yards
• 2019 – Kyle Berkshire ^[14] 406 yards
• 2021 – Kyle Berkshire ^[15] 422 yards

Masters winners[]

• 1996 – Michael Hooper 333 yards
• 1997 – Michael Hooper 371 yards
• 1998 – Michael Hooper 354 yards
• 1999 – Fred Hooter 352 yards
• 2000 – Mike Gorton 310 yards
• 2001 – Ted Fostey 357 yards
• 2002 – Pat Dempsey USA 342 yards
• 2003 – USA 381 yards
• 2004 – Bobby Wilson 360 yards
• 2005 – Gerry James 366 yards
• 2006 – Gerry James 378 yards
• 2007 – Frank Miller 394 yards
• 2008 – Dan Boever 366 yards
• 2009 – Bobby Wilson 374 yards
• 2010 – George Slupski 389 yards
• 2011 – David Mobley 459 yards
• 2012 – Eric Lastowka USA 355 yards
• 2013 – Stephen Kennedy 369 yards
• 2014 – Jeff Gavin (Canada) 384 yards
• 2015 – Jason Zuback 339 yards
• 2016 – Tom Peppard USA 347 yards
• 2017 – Jeff Crittenden 363 yards
• 2018 – Eddie Fernandes^[16]
• 2019 – Jeff Crittenden
• 2021 – Jeff Gavin 361 yards

Womens winners[]

• 2000 – Stacey Shinnick 249 yards
• 2001 – Lee Brandon 291 yards
• 2002 – Stacey Shinnick 292 yards
• 2003 – Nancy Abiecunas 332 yards
• 2004 – Sally Dee 287 yards
• 2005 – Stacey Shinnick 311 yards
• 2006 – Phillis Meti 326 yards
• 2007 – Sheila Kelliher 329 yards
• 2008 – Lana Lawless 245 yards
• 2009 – N/A
• 2010 – N/A
• 2011 – Sandra Carlborg 285 yards
• 2012 – Sandra Carlborg 339 yards
• 2013 – Heather LeMaster 306 yards
• 2014 – Sandra Carlborg 332 yards
• 2015 – Sandra Carlborg 321 yards
• 2016 – Phillis Meti 310 yards
• 2017 – Sandra Carlborg 320 yards
• 2018 – Phillis Meti^[17] 317 yards
• 2019 – Chloe Garner^[18] 347 yards
• 2021 – Kanani Lodge 332 yards

References[]