The Golf Channel will be taping this weekend as Hawk’s Landing Golf Club in Yucca Valley will host the opening qualifying rounds for the World Long Drive championship. The competition, held today and tomorrow, March 24 and 25, will give qualifying long drivers the chance to see how they stack up against the sport’s biggest sticks. Top finishers at the end of the weekend will be rewarded with world ranking points and exemptions to the world finals in early September in Thackerville, Oklahoma, broadcast on the Golf Channel. Competitors routinely hit drives more than 400 yards. The events start at 9 a.m., followed by a regional final starting at 3 p.m. each day. Each local qualifying event will produce four different winners who will advance to the regional finals held that afternoon. The top two hitters, one from the winners’ bracket and one from the losers’ bracket, will advance to the field of the 2017 World Long Drive Championship, is held by the World Long Drive Association. There is an open division, women’s division, and master’s division for ages 45 and older. The 2017 season consists of events across the United States and around the world.
