The Season

The ALD Championship Series for the 2019/2020 season started September 1, 2019. We’ve never been more grateful for the aggressive early start than in this pandemic-affected season. Going into February 2020 we had about 30 events completed in the USA and Canada with another 70 expected. Then COVID 19 halted the season. Rather than “cancel” events, we chose to “postpone” them in hopes of returning to competition before the end of the season. The initial 15 day lock down turned into 30, then 60, and then 90 days. We were fortunate to selectively return to competition in the USA in June. Our ALD competitors in Canada, Latin America, South America, and India were not so fortunate. Competition was suspended everywhere except in the USA.

Making Up Ground – Improvising

Improvisation is something we’ve embraced at ALD. After moving the finals of the 2019 Worlds indoors after what appeared to be a complete rain-out….we’ve learned that driving forward provides results.  During the months of June, July, and early August (this season) we doubled up on schedules making up and moving events to areas where competition was allowed. Fortunately our sport “naturally” provides social distancing in that we’re a no-contact sport. Families were able to attend and support events by following the guidelines outlined by the CDC (Centers For Disease Control) and the individual states and municipalities where events were held. Regional Major Qualifiers in Texas, Arizona, California, and Nevada were combined into a “Super Regional” event at the “Home of Long Drive” in Mesquite, Nevada thanks to our phenomenal partners at Golf Mesquite Nevada and the Eurika Resort Casino. This Mesquite event also saw the roll-out of Jeff Crittenden’s Xtreme Long Drive Series, a new property of our parent company, Ultimate Long Drive, Inc.

The 2020 Worlds

The 2020 World Championship turned out to be more of a USA National event this year with over 70 competitors from around the USA converging on the gorgeous Barefoot Resort & Golf grid in Myrtle Beach, SC.  A normal Worlds turnout would have fielded approximately 84 hitters from all our participating counties. None-the-less the competition was very strong and extremely close among all divisions. Like last year (2019), there were threats of weather complications, but unlike last year all competitions were competed outdoors. There were some rain-showers and one lightning delay that only affected the finish of competition by about 30 minutes.

One of the most impressive performances during the competition came from Joshua Fair. Josh competed during the 2020 season in both Junior boys and Open Men. He won the Junior Division title in a great battle against Kauner Kay and was the number one seed going into the Open Men’s Division round of eight. All divisions were determined by some of  the closest competition we’ve seen. Several finals had hitters within a few yards, some within a few feet….and the Open Men’s finals had to go to a hit off when Scottie Pearman and Aaron Hoffman were tied after their championship round. The two longest drives were within inches of each other…and actually in close proximity out on the gird.

In the six ball hit off, Scottie Pearman hit the longest drive ever recorded in ALD competition at Barefoot at 343 yards. Aaron Hoffman hit the second longest drive ever recorded in ALD competition at Barefoot at 341 yards. Both these men have a very bright professional long drive career ahead as both will graduate ALD to the newly formed XLD series for the coming season.

Here are our winners:

Open Men – Scottie Pearman Coastal Carolinas League

Open Women – Kylee Dubroski Connecticut League

Senior Men – Brandon Deveraux North Florida League

Senior Women – Sandy Mills North Florida League

Super Senior Men – David Pat Johnson Utah Nevada League

70+ Men – David Hallenback North Florida League

Open Military – Ethan Cline Western PA League

Junior Girls – Kylee Dubroski Connecticut League

Junior Boys – Joshua Fair Western PA League

Open Adaptive – Henry O’Grady Coastal Carolinas League

Junior Adaptive – Noah Fair Western PA League

Youth Boys 6U – Jake Porter Mid Atlantic League

Youth Boys 10U Tucker Teague Missouri League

Youth Boys 13U – Kauner Kay Utah Nevada League

The complete list of competitors and where they finished can be viewed HERE.

Points – World #1

The ALD overall points winner receives recognition and is awarded the trophy at the World Championship. Although this competition for Overall World #1 can be won from any division, the Open Men’s division has an advantage….since this is our largest field of competitors. All divisions are growing, and we look forward to seeing this winner come from other divisions in the future.

Alex Bloser – 2020 Overall World #1 winner.

We had a great battle for the overall World #1 title leading up to and including the Last Chance Qualifier between eventual winner, Alex Bloser and Lee Hodges. Lee was leading the race going into the Mesquite event where Alex had an impressive performance to take over.

Overall World #1 – Alex Bloser

Open Men Division – Alex Bloser

Open Women Division – Kylee Dubrosky

Senior Men Division – Todd Baxley (second year in a row for Todd)

Senior Women – Jennifer White

Super Senior Men – Jeff Gilder

70+ Men – Garrett Leffler

Open Military – Jay Seaman

Open Adaptive – Henry O’Grady

Junior Adaptive – Noah Fair

Junior Girls – Egypt Hughes

Junior Boys – Tanner Pipes

Youth Boys – Liam Breece

Youth Girls – Zhana Novato

The Future – ALD Worlds in Chicago

We are looking forward to a (hopeful) return to normality for the coming 2020/2021 season. This new season begins September 1, 2020 will end in September 2021 at a brand new World Championship venue at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in the Chicago, IL area. Cog Hill has constructed a world-class (purpose-built) long drive facility on their property in Lemont, Illinois and will host both the ALD World Championship and the XLD (Xtreme Long Drive®) World Championship in mid-September 2021.

ALD Nationals

2021 will mark the first year of the USA National Championships that will take place mid-August 2021 at the familiar Barefoot Resort & Golf grid that has been the home of our world championship for the past three years. All other ALD participating countries will host their first ALD Nationals sending the best amateur long drivers in the world to this amazing new facility at Cog Hill in September 2021.

Jeff Crittenden’s Xtreme Long Drive® Series

2020 marks the beginning of a new professional long drive series called Xtreme Long Drive® or XLD. XLD is a property of Ultimate Long Drive, Inc. Two-time and reigning WLD Masters Champion, Jeff Crittenden, has taken the position of Tour Commissioner for this new competition and the new series takes on his namesake as Jeff Crittenden’s Xtreme Long Drive® Series. Ed LaPierre joins the Ultimate Long Drive, Inc team as National Tournament Director for XLD.

Several of ALD’s elite hitters will gradate to XLD for the new inaugural season that began August 1st in Mesquite. The next XLD series event will take place at Willow Creek Golf Course in Des Moines, Iowa on September 25th and 26th. The inaugural XLD season will culminate in Greensboro, North Carolina at Bryan Park Golf Club for the the XLD World Championship on October 31st and November 1st 2020. The 2021 season will include a full schedule of events ending in September 2021 at Cog Hill Golf & country Club in Chicago, Il.

Television Production

The 2020 ALD World Championship television production will air on September 7, 2020. The show is hosted by Emmy and ACE Award-winning sportscaster, Jim Kelly on the Watch ZTV OTT Network as well as various other social and digital platforms including Facebook Watch. The program is produced by Dustin Gilder and  Zeus Digital Marketing, LLC.