| 2001 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship
The biggest and best RE/MAX World Long
Drive Championship finals yet are set to go in Mesquite, Nev., Oct.
16-19.
The finalists in the Open, Senior and Women's divisions will compete
for a record purse. They'll be joined by five boys and five girls
under 17, in the first junior competition in the history of Long
Drive.
The finals will be televised at least twice during the Christmas
season. They'll be seen on ESPN on Dec. 21 and on ESPN2 on Christmas
Day.
A record 300 Local Qualification Events were held this year, with
more than 14,000 would-be long drivers taking part. Golfers from
a dozen countries took part in qualifying, with several international
RE/MAX regions hosting or sponsoring national or regional championships:
RE/MAX of Southern Africa, RE/MAX Ireland, RE/MAX Sweden, RE/MAX
Norway and RE/MAX Caribbean Islands.
The finalists will compete for a record purse of $325,000, including
$80,000 for the Open Division champion. Defending champion Sean
"The Beast" Fister will seek his third world championship
against a field that will include four-time champion Jason Zuback
of Calgary, Alberta; 2000 champ Viktor Johansson of Sweden, who
dethroned Zuback; and last year's runner-up, Brian Pavlet.
A companion event to the RE/MAX World Long Drive championship is
the Pinnacle Distance Challenge. Throughout the United States this
summer, local golfers have challenged members of the Pinnacle Distance
Team – all of whom have been RE/MAX Long Drive finalists –
for the right to compete against John Daly for part of a $1 million
purse.
Daly, one of the longest drivers on the PGA Tour, will tee it up
against the challengers on Thursday, Oct. 17. While the competition
is not part of the RE/MAX Long Drive event, it will be included
in the television coverage.
A few highlights from qualifying rounds:
• Ryan Gearhart of Peoria, Ariz., uncorked a 510-yard drive
in the District 4 finals in Bennett, Colo. Taking advantage of a
strong headwind, hard ground and the mile-high elevation, Gearhart
produced a "five bill" drive (500 yards or longer, in
Long Drive lingo).
That's believed to be the longest qualifying drive in the eight-year
history of the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship, according to
Art Sellinger, president of Long Drivers of America (LDA), which
conducts the event.
In the same competition, Craig Hagan of McKinney, Texas, was the
runner-up at 486 yards, while Derek Hermann of Sheridan, Wyo., took
third at 478 yards.
• In Junior qualifying competition, at least a dozen boys
recorded drives of 325 yards or more, and 11 girls pounded out drives
of 240 yards or more.
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