Drive For Show
Spring is just around the corner, daylight savings time is now in effect, and we just booked our 27th tournament of the 2018/2019 season. On our way to a goal of 40 tournaments this season, the ULD™ Championship Series is “almost” in full swing. We’re still waiting for the northern part of the continent to thaw and begin to #DriveForShow. The season has already produced some great experiences…getting to take Team USA to Mexico City for the Long Drive LatinoAmerica Championship was certainly the highlight.
U.S. and Canada Schedules
ULD™ Canada and Series Commissioner, Fareen Samji, along with Series Directors Jacob French and Dan McIntosh are poised and ready to kick off their season at X Factor Indoor Golf in Calgary on March 28th, followed by Hitz, Okotoks on March 30th. The Southeastern U.S. leagues of Coastal Carolina, Western Carolinas, and North Florida are filling up their calendars with March, April, May, June, and July events to get their respective leagues / teams qualified for the World Championship August 16 and 17th at Barefoot Resort & Golf in Myrtle Beach, SC. We hope to see some New England dates soon, and more Utah-Nevada dates are in the works. Be sure to check United States and Canada Schedules HERE for updates.
Regional Majors
There are currently four Regional Majors scheduled or planned and a fifth being considered. All majors pay double points, and (at least) the winners in each division are invited to the Worlds. The winners are an automatic invitation. Based upon participation commitments to the Worlds, we may go deeper into each field of competitors. The Eastern Regional “The Rumble At Rocky Gap” is May 11th at Rock Gap Casino Resort in Flintstone Maryland. The Central Regional “The Capital City Clash” is June 15th at Turkey Creek Golf Center in Jefferson City, Missouri. The Last Chance Qualifier, the day before the Worlds (August 15th) at Barefoot Resort, is considered at Regional Major. The date and venue for the Western Regional is still unconfirmed. We hope to make that announcement soon along with and plans for returning to Des Moine Iowa for a fifth Major date. The Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) is likely to include the most transfer spots to the Worlds. Since it is the day before the World Championship, we will fill as many open slots as possible from that event.
Pathway To The Worlds
There are multiple “Pathways to the Worlds” and all those are outlined in more detail under the rules tab on our website at https://amateurlongdrive.com. The best way to increase your odds of getting an invitation the World Championship is to play as many tournaments as possible and earn as many World Ranking Points as possible. Keep in mind the leaders in World Ranking Points, each League’s division winners, and Major division winners will receive invitations to the Worlds. If those players are not able to make the show, the next person inline will receive the invitation. In addition to those three paths, players in each division with the highest CPI (Competition Performance Index) will receive an invite. CPI is simply tournaments entered multiplied by World Ranking Points earned. The fifth path to the Worlds are or Wild Card picks. Wild Card picks will include recommendation from our Tournament Directors and stand outs in the series.
More Growth Coming
As of this writing, we are not able to make “official” announcements, but we are close to adding ULD™ Series, Leagues, and Sanctioned events in several countries. These negotiations may take weeks or months to finalize, but we’re confident we’ll be making announcements prior to the end of this season regarding countries in South America, and Europe. We can announce that we have entered into an agreement with the Latinoamerica Golf Management Group to sanction their Championship, the Long Drive Latinoamerica Championship. This agreement will allow their top hitters to be invited to the ULD™ World Championship.
U.S. (and other) Territories Available
When we began the 2018/2019 season, we limited the number of territories allotted for competition to give us an opportunity to test the “League” concept, points system, and rules. There will be up to ten additional ULD™ territories allotted for the 2019/2020 season. If you would like to discuss becoming an ULD™ Tournament / Series Director / Commissioner let us know by submitting the form found HERE.
