WLD players will participate in a celebrity long drive exhibition on Sunday before competition on Monday, March 18
World No. 1 Kyle Berkshire hits a drive during the 2023 World Long Drive Championship
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – The 2024 World Long Drive (WLD) season will begin in Huntington Beach, California, with the MB Invitational presented by Hyundai, held March 17-18 at The Huntington Club. The event will feature 42 of the best hitters in the world, competing to raise money for cancer research and the MB Invitational championship. In addition to the professional competition, a celebrity long drive exhibition will be held on Sunday, March 17, featuring celebrities like Ross Butler, Shawn Green, and Jake Olson.
The MB Invitational will air on March 19 from 5 to 7 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel.
This unique event will offer a new format for competition, as designated holes will serve as qualifying holes. On these holes (No. 1, No. 12, No. 16, and No. 18) players will hit a set of four golf balls per qualifying hole. Each player’s longest ball will determine their standing on each specific hole, and points will be awarded based on how players finish at each hole. Eight players will advance to match play in the Open Division; four players will advance in the Women’s Division.
In match play, players will alternate hitting one ball at a time for six total balls apiece. Competitors are eligible for “Bonus Balls” if they hit two balls in the grid that surpass the bonus ball distance (350 yards for Open Division, 280 yards for Women’s Division). The bonus balls give players an additional 30 seconds to hit as many shots as they would like.
CLICK HERE for updated WLD World Rankings
The WLD MB Celebrity Shootout presented by Hyundai, a celebrity long drive exhibition to be held on Sunday, March 17, will showcase eight teams each comprised of an Open Division player, a Women’s Division player, and a celebrity. Each team will hit a set of six drives by each player. The team’s score will be determined by cumulative yardage of three drives per team per set with a mandatory one drive posted by each player. Each team will receive a “Bonus Ball” at the end of the set to be hit by any of the three players.
The MB Invitational is a Driving Out Cancer event and is committed to raising funds for life-saving cancer research projects at the City of Hope. Driving Out Cancer is dedicated to establishing funding streams that directly affect the community in Southern California. A donation of $25,000 will be made to Driving Out Cancer by the winning team of the WLD MB Celebrity Shootout presented by Hyundai.
Three of the four world champions from 2023 will be participating in the MB Invitational. World No. 1 Kyle Berkshire captured his third Open Division world championship in 2023, Monica Lieving won three of six events in the Women’s Division, including the world championship, and Ryan Reisbeck is the reigning Senior Division world champion. Reisbeck will continue to compete in both the Open Division and Senior Division throughout the season.
In 2023, the longest drive in any division was 489 yards by World No. 7 Bryce Verplank. Berkshire, the world record holder for longest drive (579.6 yards – not in competition), carried the highest average drive in the sport last season at 398.8 yards. On the women’s side, World No. 2 Phillis Meti had the longest drive in the Women’s Division last year, smacking one 378 yards. She also led the Women’s Division in average distance at 323.8 yards per drive.
CLICK HERE for the 2024 World Long Drive Press Kit, including photos/b-roll of past events and individual competitors. Additional photos/b-roll and interviews available upon request.
WLD MB INVITATIONAL – MARCH 17-18
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For more information, visit World Long Drive’s Website, Twitter, and Instagram.
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 nine 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
Reeves Eddins | Tony Fay PR | reeves@tonyfaypr.com | 901.647.9697
Jonathan Deutsch | Tony Fay PR | jonathan@tonyfaypr.com | 469.534.8525z
