Long drives ahead for Newton and Stone after MK store victory

Milton Keynes long drive star Mark Newton has sailed through the first stage of qualification for the American Golf UK Long Drive Championship following a hugely impressive result at the local qualifying competition held at the Milton Keynes American Golf store.
Mark NewtonMark Newton
Mark Newton

Taking part in the Over 45’s category, Mark progressed with a mammoth strike of 321 yards. Mark had previously reached the finals in the 2015 and 2016 American Golf UK Long Drive Championship and is hoping to improve on his performance to clinch the title in this year’s championship. Alongside Mark, James Stone also qualified from the Milton Keynes store in the Under 45’s category completing the local contingent that will progress to take on the region’s best at Milton Keynes American Golf store for a place in the National final.

The local duo are now just one step away from the UK final and a chance to win a spot at the 2018 World Long Drive Championship in Oklahoma. In its fourth year, the American Golf UK 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 Mark and James 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.”

Mark and James 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 duo 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.

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