During the weekend of May 20th and 21st, the best long drivers in the world took a lengthy plane ride across the world to participate in the Continental Long Drive open, which took place in Burgwedel Germany. Josh Koch, Sam Judah, Colton Casto, Ryan Gregnol, and many more top WLD players joined Martin Borgmeier in his home country for this excited European Long Games event. Martin Borgmeier, who was born in Germany, raised over 130 thousand dollars for the event, and had it broadcasted on Skysports. Even though the trip across the pond was unfamiliar territory for some, it did not stop Josh Koch from capturing the title amongst a field of elite hitters from all over the world.
After a slow morning in the qualifying events, Josh Koch knew he had work to do if he wanted to see himself hoisting the championship trophy later on in the event. “ I had a bad morning in the qualifying, so I was actually one of the lowest seeds going into match play.” Said Koch. “This format actually gives the higher seeds byes, so I basically got no help and then had to win six sets to win the whole event, which was crazy to think about,” Josh Koch noted. This format provides the players who do the best in Qualifying an easier path to the finals, unlike the WLD events where in the quarterfinals, each player must advance the same way in a head-to-head style match. Even with Josh’s steep hill to climb after a poor showing in the qualifying rounds, he still found a way to push through to hoist his first championship of the season.
Outside of the golf component of the trip, Josh and the rest of the WLD members were given a top-notch tour from local, Martin Borgmeier. “It was awesome, all the guys from the US got there on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday," Said Josh. "We spent Wednesday in Munich, and then we hit at Munich Golf Club on Thursday. Martin gave us a tour of downtown Munich Thursday night, and then on Friday, he took us down to the mountain range, which is right on the Austria border, south of Munich.” This trip gave the American World Long Drive members a snapshot into the life of World #2. “I was 6 hours out of my normal time zone, which had me starting to feel most of what Martin feels at most events.” Said Koch, who has formed a close relationship with Borgmeier over the years competing against one another. “He (Martin) was a phenomenal host, and you could tell he was proud to shave the guys in town, proud to show off his city and his country, and I was impressed with what he and his team were able to get done from an event standpoint.”
As the trip is now in the rearview mirror, the experience gave the American competitors a taste of what all the international guys, who are traveling in and out of the country, experience each event. Josh Koch credited his slow start in the beginning of the event as a direct result of the new travel schedule that he was adapting to traveling internationally, but lucky for him, it was a place he had been in earlier this season. “I was curious to see how I would respond. And the good news for me was I had been hitting it really well going into it, and even with a bad morning in the seeding round, I knew I was capable of catching fire during the Matchplay, which I said that live on the air during the first round, “don’t let me catch fire."And I did.” Josh turned it on at the right time, as he was just able to hold off Sam Judah in the Semi-finals and then beat James Brosnan in the finals to capture his first trophy of the year in international waters.
The growth of the sport of Long Driving is clear as events are taking place all around the world. Players like Martin Borgmeier, Seb Twaddell, Matt Stubbs, Taiga Tazawa, and many more are representing their countries each event in the United States. With a larger purse and more televised events, the arrival of more international competitors is imminent. After seeing Martin Borgmeier put together such an amazing event in his home country, more and more athletes will follow his lead and start the process of hosting their own events. Along with more international events, the introduction of the Virtual Trackman program is a great way for people from all over the world to see if they have what it takes to compete on the World Long Drive Tour. For More information about this program, head on over to the Worldlongdrive.com.
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