Long Drive winners gearing up for final

All eyes will be on the American Golf National Academy at High Legh on August 21 as the winner of the American Golf Long Drive Championship in association with Garmin will be decided.

A trip to the US to take part in a World Long Drive Championship qualifier is on the line for the winner at the newly opened academy and competition is likely to be fierce, with the finest of margins separating the top five qualifiers.

Over the May Bank Holiday weekend, 1,150 golfers took part in the Long Drive Championship across its UK stores in an attempt to qualify for August’s Friday night final, where the UK’s longest drivers will battle it out for a place on the plane to represent American Golf and Garmin on the world stage.

“We had a fantastic response” – Daniel Gathercole

Daniel Gathercole, head of marketing at American Golf, said: “We had a fantastic response from the longest hitters to families who just wanted to compete among themselves. This has been a great fun way to get people golfing and we can’t wait to see what the final produces.”

Throughout the weekend competition, over all of American Golf’s stores, members of the public who came along drove a total of 276,940 yards, or 157 miles.

That total yardage is equivalent to 38 times round the Old Course at St Andrews, 1.34 times round the M25 or from American Golf HQ in Warrington to its newest store in Hambrook, Bristol.

There were a number of monster drives, well in excess of 300 yards, in the competition with the winners in each of the three categories (Open, >45 and Ladies) on a par with the biggest hitters on tour.

Each of the 16 regional qualifiers won an S6 or G8 GPS from Garmin and every store winner received a Garmin Vivoactive watch.

For a full list of all the qualifiers and winners, visit http://t.co/lkNmJZ6Flb.

American Golf Long Drive Championship :: Did you go?

Did you take part in the Long Drive Championship? If so, how did you get on? Leave your thoughts below.