With thousands of entrants nationwide, Abbi Gallacher qualifies for regional finals of Europe’s biggest golf Long Drive Championship
Camberley long drive star Abbi Gallacher has sailed through the first stage of qualification for the American Golf U.K. Long Drive Championship following a hugely impressive result at the local qualifying competition held at the Camberley American Golf store.
Taking part in the Ladies category, Abbi progressed with a mammoth strike of 249 yards. Abbi, at just 16 years old, has previously made the finals of the American Golf UK Long Drive Championships for an astounding three consecutive years in 2015, 2016 and 2017 and hopes to improve her performance to finally clinch the title this year. Alongside Abbi, Mark Power and Ross McGuire also qualified from the Camberley store in the Over 45’s and Under 45’s categories respectively, completing the local contingent that will progress to take on the region’s best at Ageas Bowl American Golf store in Southampton for a place in the National final.
The local trio are now just one step away from the U.K. final and a chance to win a spot at the 2018 World Long Drive Championship in Oklahoma. In its fourth year, the American Golf U.K. Long Drive Championship has discovered several stars of the Long Drive world from everyday golfers who have started their journey at one of the nationwide retailer’s stores.
With Long Drive becoming more popular every year, qualification for the regional finals has become increasingly difficult as Matt Bacon, Head of Events at American Golf explains. “The American Golf Long Drive Championship has grown to be Europe’s premier Long Drive competition and as such, the quality of participants has grown hugely. Anyone progressing to the regional finals like Abbi, Mark and Ross has done incredibly well. It’s been great to see some of the guys hitting even further than they thought they could by using the Callaway Rogue Drivers our new sponsors made available.”
Nathan Dennis, Retail Marketing Manager at Callaway Golf, the 2018 tournament sponsor, added, “It has been fantastic seeing so many golfers trying the new Callaway Rogue Drivers to give themselves the best chance of qualifying in store. We wanted to be involved with this year’s event as it really is a celebration of every type of golfer letting loose and giving it all they’ve got. For us a brand it is fantastic to be at the heart of that, helping so many people get the best out of their game and seeing what Jailbreak Technology can do to unlock their distance potential.”
Abbi, Mark and Ross are now just one step away from the national final, to be held at Chester race course in August. If they can negotiate the regionals as skilfully as they did local qualifying, fans can tune into Sky Sports to watch the local trio take on the best that Europe has to offer in the hunt for an elusive American Golf qualifying spot for the World Championships in America.