Casto’s winning drive traveled 380 yards;
Fernandes’ top blast reached 382 yards
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Colton Casto will not be feeling crabby as he returns home to the Pacific Northwest. Casto, a fourth-generation crab fisherman off the coast of Alaska, earned his first career World Long Drive tour win at WLD Memphis on Sunday.
Casto, who entered the weekend ranked No. 8 in the world, improved as the weekend progressed. He hit six out of 30 balls in play in Round One, topping out at 369 yards. He put eight of 30 balls on the grid in Round Two with his best ball traveling 379 yards. Combining the Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Final, Casto put 11 of 24 balls in play and saved his best drive of the weekend for the final round, hitting a 380-yard drive to beat Justin James by four yards.
James, the winner from WLD Hobe Sound in April, hit his best ball of the weekend (392 yards) in the Quarterfinals.
With another victory, Eddie Fernandes has now won three of the last four events in the Senior’s Division. Fernandes got stronger as the head-to-head rounds progressed – he drove it 354 yards in the quarterfinals to get by George Nagy 354-316. In the Semifinals, Fernandes outdrove Troy Caley 365-346. Fernandes, the No. 1 player in the world in the Senior’s Division, saved his best for last, driving the ball 382 yards to beat EJ McDonnell 382-340 in the Finals.
Beau Blair earned his first career win in the Amateur’s Division with a 354-yard blast in the final round, taking down Casey Steed. Steed’s best drive in the finals was 331 yards.
MISCELLANEOUS
World No. 1 Kyle Berkshire and No. 12 Ryan Gregnol tied for the longest drive of the weekend: 399 yards. Berkshire’s 399-yard drive was during the Round of 16 on Sunday while Gregnol’s longest was during first round play on Saturday.
In the Open Division, five different players have won the first five events of the season (chronological order): Martin Borgmeier, Justin James, Seb Twaddell, Zack Holton, and Colton Casto.
UP NEXT
The next World Long Drive event is WLD Port Rowan, scheduled for July 8-9 in Port Rowan, Ontario.
About World Long Drive:
The World Long Drive Championship is the largest annual domestic professional golf event not associated with the PGA of America, the PGA Tour, or the LPGA. It was first held in 1974, and since 2000 consisted of Open, Women’s, Seniors (over-45s), and Amateur events. The World Long Drive tour is comprised of over 12 events domestically and over 30 events internationally all culminating for the season finale World Long Drive Championship. World Long Drive tour and championship is owned and operated by GF Sports and Entertainment based out of New York, NY.
World Long Drive has partnered with PIVOT Agency out of the San Francisco Bay area to reintroduce the brand and sport into the corporate market leveraging partner relationships.
PIVOT Agency is a full-service sports marketing agency, built at the nexus of brands and culture, and forming alliances between consumer brands, athletes, sports, the arts, causes, business and media. Today it has grown into four (4) unique and successful divisions, encompassing Property Representation, Brand Consulting, Travel and Hospitality. PIVOT’s property division consults with top organizations in the sports and entertainment world including GF Sports & Entertainment, Pro Pickleball Association, Athletes Unlimited, Cedar Fair, OpTic Gaming, NRG, Spacestation Gaming, Illinois State University and a growing portfolio of professional and collegiate properties.
About GF Sports and Entertainment:
GF Sports & Entertainment is a global events and operations company that elevates the experience of live sports, entertainment and interactive events. The company owns two of the ATP Tour’s longest running American tennis tournaments, the Dallas Open and the Atlanta Open, as well as the National Lacrosse League New York Riptide. GF Sports & Entertainment also incubates new and emerging sport concepts, this includes Wolf Pack Ninjas, which operates ninja-focused events globally and just completed the purchase of World Long Drive an international long drive tour.
GF Sports & Entertainment was founded in July 2015 by New York-based private equity firm GF Capital. For additional information, please visit www.gfsportsandentertainment.com.
Contact
Jonathan Deutsch | jonathan@tonyfaypr.com | 469.534.8525
Angela Lang | angela@tonyfaypr.com | 214.548.0827
