American Golf Long Drive Championship Returns

American Golf is back on the hunt for the UK and Ireland's biggest hitters as the 2016 American Golf Long Drive Championship qualifiers take place over April 8th, 9th and 10th

American Golf is back on the hunt for the UK and Ireland's biggest hitters as the 2016 American Golf Long Drive Championship qualifiers take place over April 8th, 9th and 10th.

So if you outdrive your playing partners, but struggle with your short game, this could be your chance for victory.

Last year was the first time the golf retailer ran its Long Drive Championship, yet thousands of people visited its stores to take part in qualifying.

Now the search is on for the 2016 champions, who will have last year's 333-yard winning hit as their target.

Qualifying will take place over Masters weekend (8^th-10^th April) in all of American Golf's 106 stores in the UK and Ireland.

Each entrant will get three attempts to outdrive the competition, with one winner per store in the men’s under 45s, men’s over 45s and ladies categories going through to the Regional Finals.

From there they will battle for a spot in the Grand Final, which will take place at the American Golf National Academy at High Legh Park Golf Club in Cheshire on the 19^th of August.

Be prepared to face the TV cameras as well as the competition, because the Final was aired on Sky Sports last year.

The 2015 American Golf Long Drive Championship also uncovered some incredible new talent. It was Rebecca McGinley’s first ever long drive event and not only did she win the ladies title, she also went on to finish third at the World Long Drive Championships in America, where she represented American Golf and sponsors Garmin.

The men’s under 45s winner Dan Konyk is a regular on the Long Drive circuit, but he only just outdrove his competition in the 2015 final. Novice long driver Steve Kent became over 45s Champion, impressing everyone with a 336-yards hammer blow - the longest drive of the entire day!

Daniel Gathercole, head of marketing at American Golf, told GM, “Although the final was extremely competitive, this event is a lot of fun. Anyone can go into a store, pick up a club and hit the ball as far as they can. You don’t even have to be a golfer to take part. We want to draw new people into the game and holding events like this is the perfect way to discover new talent and get people involved.”