2014 World Long Drive Championship

[mvmac]

Will be on Golf Channel live tonight at 10pm EST.

The longest eight golfers on Earth competing will be:

•    Daniel Beckman, 30, Fresno, California
•    Jeff Crittenden, 43, Greensboro, North Carolina
•    Jeff Flagg, 29, Pelham, Alabama
•    Matt Hanger, 30, Anaheim, California
•    Joe Miller, 29, London, England
•    Connor Powers, 30, Naperville, Illinois
•    Jamie Sadlowski , 26, St. Paul, Alberta, Canada
•    Adam Smith, 24, Tomball, Texas

Miller won the world title in 2010 and was undefeated in 2014 on the Long Drivers European Tour, where he has captured 12 titles. He finished as the runner-up at the 2013 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship to Tim Burke, who hit a world-record drive of 427 yards to win the title. Burke failed to qualify for a return trip to Las Vegas. Sadlowski, who famously broke two simulators during appearances on Golf Channel, is a two-time world champion and is making his eighth-straight appearance in the final – the longest active streak.

Here's the head-to-head matches. Players are allowed six shots in each match, played three at a time. The highest-seeded player gets to choose to hit first or second.

Match 1: Matt Hanger vs. Jeff Crittenden
Match 2: Joe Miller vs. Jamie Sadlowski
Match 3: Jeff Flagg vs. Daniel Beckman
Match 4: Adam Smith vs. Connor Powers

Here's a preview

http://www.golfchannel.com/topics/misc/long-drivers-of-America.htm

[vasaribm]

Unfortunate that Miller v. Sadlowski is a quarterfinal match

[sgt1372]

Saw the finals on Golf Channel last night.

Interesting event but I don't think it really has anything to do w/really playing golf.  Just proves you can win some $ and make a living hitting a golf ball around a 1/4 mile, if you just go up there and whack the heck out of the ball and hope it lands in the "grid."  You get 1 out of 6 tries to do it.  So, accuracy really doesn't matter as long as you can get at least 1 out of six swings to stay w/in the grid.

Not sure how wide the grid is.  I've seen reports of 40 to 70 yards wide.  Not easy to keep the ball w/in those bounds when you're trying to hit the ball a country mile but still not really a factor as long as you can get just 1 out of 6 balls anywhere w/in that space.  Min tech requirements seem to be a club head speed of 140 mph with a ball speed of 210 mph resulting in a max smash factor of 1.50.  If you can do this YOU TOO can make the finals of the RE Max Long Drivers competition.

That said, I was a little disappointed not to see any 400+ yard swings during the show (they showed some from prior events; one that actually rolled off the course at around 470 yards!!!) due I believe to the weather conditions.  Was rooting for the "old guy" Crittenden but youth prevailed and Flagg (a ex-minor league 1st baseman) won by a foot & 1 inch at "just" 365 yards, 20 inches.  Guess it just goes to prove that there is a life after baseball.

As for learning anything about hitting a golf ball farther, all I learned from comments from the Golf Fix guy (Michael Breed) who was a commentator on the show was the same stuff he's previously mentioned on his show: 1) hit the ball in the center of the face of the driver, 2) increase your club speed on the down swing and 3) get your power from your hips (not your arms), which (from what I see in the videos) involves bending of the knees along w/hip rotation done coordination with the downswing as you swing upward through the ball with as much velocity as you can muster (similar to the way you swing a bat at at baseball) while still maintaining your form, so that you can still hit the ball in the center of the face of the driver, in order to achieve max club head speed and loft angle in order to drive the ball as fast & far as possible.

All much easier said than done.  I know it when I see it on the videos or on the range, but I still can't do it myself w/any consistency or accuracy.