2022 Ultimate Long Drive World Championship
The 2022 ULD World Championship was held at Premier Sports Campus in Bradenton Florida. The event ran from Thursday October 27th through Sunday October 30th.
Participants
After 4 days of hitting, 250 entries from 16 countries representing the top long drivers in the world were taken down to 44 2022 ULD World Champions across all divisions. Divisions include age and ability categories from 7 & under to 70+ including Amateurs, Professionals, Military, and Adaptive.
Results
The 2022 Ultimate Long Drive World Championship produced world champions from Canada (13), Japan (3), Mexico (1), South Africa (1), New Zealand (1), and the USA (25). The competition was stellar! There were multiple country versus country finals that included national champions against national champions…just the way a world championship should play out. There were veteran long drivers and first-year rookies going head-to-head in finals. There are many great stories emanating from this tournament such as:
- With just over a year of experience, Isaiah Joyner wins the XLD Open Men’s belt in a great match against the 2021 XLD Open men’s World Champion, Jim Waldren.
- Rookie, Anna Drahos met veteran world champion, Phillis Meti in the XLD Open Women’s final in a great match.
- 2018 WLD Champion, Maurice Allen and Japanese Champion, Naoto Misumi had one of the best matches of the event in the XLD Men 35+ division. Misumi took the belt in that division then Allen came back and took the belt in the XLD Men 40+ Division.
- There were 43 female participants across all divisions. This is a record number of females in a long drive event.
- 2022 Mexico National Champion and 2021 ALD 45+ Champ, Jorge Aguado went up against USA 2021 45+ Champ, Roy Studley in a great showdown that Studley won.
XLD (Xtreme Long Drive®) Professional Divisions
Open Men – Isaiah Joyner USA
Open Women – Phillis Meti – New Zealand
XLD 35+ Men – Naoto Misumi – Japan
XLD 35+ Women – Kelly Rudney – Canada
XLD 40+ Men – Maurice Allen – USA
XLD 40+ Women – Fareen Samji – Canada
XLD 45+ Men – David Mobley – USA
XLD 45+ Women – Kelly Rudney – Canada
XLD 50+ Men – Mike Bauman – USA
XLD 50+ Women – Michelle Sheptak – USA
XLD 55+ Men – David Mobley – USA
XLD 60+ Men – Jeff Nuchols – USA
XLD 60+ Women – Lee Brandon – USA
XLD 65+ Men – Daniel Fornier – Canada
XLD 70+ Men – David Brinker – USA
ALD (Amateur Long Drive™) Amateur Divisions
Open Military – Jason Yarborough – USA
Open Adaptive – Henry O’Grady – USA
Open Adaptive – Charles Naspinski – USA
Open Adaptive – Thomas Maneeley – USA
Open Adaptive – Dana Shealey – USA
Open Adaptive – Chris Garner – Canada
Open Adaptive – Roger Sack – USA
ALD Open Men – Gerald Helstowski – USA
ALD Open Women – Ethel Ruthenburg – South Africa
ALD 35+ Men – Allen Peake – USA
ALD 35+ Women – Lori Biencowe – Canada
ALD 45+ Men – Roy Studley – USA
ALD 45+ Women – Melissa Steck – USA
ALD 50+ Men – Kenji Nashida – Japan
ALD 50+ Women – Erika Rodrigues – Mexico
ALD 55+ Men – Aklira Komori – Japan
ALD 55+ – Women – Barbara Moody – Canada
ALD 60+ – Women Lori Danecke – Canada
ALD 65+ Men – Jeffrey Brown – USA
ALD 70+ Men – David Brinker – USA
Junior Boys – Kauner Kay – USA
Junior Girls – Chloe Jacques – Canada
13U Boys – Alessandro Baiocco – Canada
11U Girls – Emma Kessner – USA
11U Boys – Ryder Smith – Canada
9U Boys – Dylan Spinnato – USA
9U Girls – Maggie Delov – Canada
7U Boys – Tom Delov – Canada
7U Girls – Ava Wilkinson – USA