Mike Dobbyn staked his claim to the title "golf’s biggest hitter" by winning the 2007 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship in Mesquite, Nevada, on Saturday, Oct. 27.
The California (La Verne) native, who now resides in Las Vegas, defeated Brooks Baldwin 385-375 in the match-play final at the Palms GC.
Dobbyn earned $125,000. Baldwin, who hails from Mendenhall, Mississippi, earned $50,000.
The final match pitted two of long drive’s rising stars. Dobbyn won an LDA Tour event in Tulsa in 2004 and was that season’s rookie-of-the-year. Baldwin captured the LDA Tour’s 2005 Alpha Classic in Des Moines in his first start on the professional long drive circuit.
In other championship matches in Mesquite:
Senior Division – Frank Miller, who won the 1990 U.S. National Long Drive Championship, returned to the winner’s circle with a resounding 394-366 win over Patrick Dempsey, the 2002 RE/MAX senior world champion. The finals featured dueling Californians, as Miller resides in Covina and Dempsey in Sunland. Miller earned $35,000; his 394 set a finals record for the senior division.
Super Senior Division – Mike Gorton, a native Californian (Santa Barbara) who now resides in Colorado (Lafayette), edged Steve Griffith, an elementary school teacher from Hamilton, Ohio, 340/16-339. Gorton, who works as a tour rep for Yonex, became the first competitor to capture championships in three separate long drive divisions.
Grand Champions – Former NBA superstar Rick Barry prevailed 349-345/32 in a featured match with LDA Hall of Fame member Fred Hooter. Barry resides in Colorado Springs, while Hooter hails from Auburn, Alabama. Barry finished runner-up to Griffith in the super senior division in 2005; Hooter captured the super senior title in 2003 and 2004. This marked the inaugural competition in the grand champions division, for RE/MAX WLDC competitors 61 and up.
Women’s Division – Sheila Kelliher, a California fire fighter, unseated defending champion Phillis Meti 329-318/5. Kelliher, who resides in Quartz Hill, pocketed $14,000. Meti, from Auckland, New Zealand, posted 338 yards in her semifinal win over Lizzy Uthoff (299).
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