Sunday 21s October 2018.-It was not the way anyone wanted to end the 2018 Long Drive European Tour season. Torrential weekend rains battered Panorámica Golf in Spain. According to the LDET, area roads were blocked with up to 50 centimeters of flood water on the pavements, electrical power was lost, and the grid itself saw spots of standing water and sand deposits. And while some say conditions remained playable, the tour made the difficult decision to pull the plug on the event. That capped off an amazing year for Germany’s The Beard Borgmeier, having won 3 other events and securing his new title as the 2018 LDET Champion. “What happened this year with Long Drive was a U-turn in my life,” Borgeier says in a post-event address.

But the Beard wasn’t the only LDET player with a standout 2018. The Hungarian Hulk Horvath also notched 3 wins, hit the season’s longest drive (443), and was a mere 400 points short of Borgmeier in final ranking points. “It was an amazing season for me,” he told the crowd. “I’m very happy for everything.”

Though England’s Jordan Brooks didn’t get the chance to strut his stuff in the season finale either, he finishes the season, with one win, 4,500 points, and the no.3 LDET ranking. “I’ve gained a lot of confidence going through the season,” Brooks said. “I feel like I belong amongst the top players.”

Sunday 21st October, VINARÒS.- Due to the bad conditions we had yesterday until 11:30 at Panorámica Golf, the LDET decided to cancel the last tournament of the season. It was not an easy decision. The conditions to do a professional FINAL event were not good: No electricity, no music, Dj could not arrive, no clock, bad grid... We can NOT either accept insults like we had from a player and also discrediting the course, the tour, the sport...

NOTE: Torrential rainfall in Vinaròs left roads cut off and up to 50 centimetres (1'8”) of flood water on the pavements. The rain reached a terrifying 200 to 250 litres per square metre in the town of Vinaròs. Rainfall reaching 40 litres per square metre – around four centimetres – is classed as a major seasonal storm and is enough for the met office to issue weather warnings and put emergency flood protection measures into operation. (See the first photo below: a lot of sand on the grid).

8^th August 2018. -  The Long Drivers European Tour will celebrate the final event of the season next Saturday 20^th October with the MASTERS LDET CUP, at Panorámica Golf Resort (Castellón). The competition will bring together the 8 best European hitters of this discipline in an spectacular final event.

The final event of the season

In this sixth season of the tour, which has been a great success of participation in different countries, the final tournament will be the ninth stop of a competition that has already gone through Chilly-sur-Armançon (France), Mol (Belgium), Täby (Sweden), St. Petersburg (Russia), Zalácsany (Hungary) and Munich (Germany). The next tournament will be the Italy LDET and in September the Nations Cup near Nice (France).

A decisive tournament

The players of the tour spend hundreds of hours hitting thousands of balls, and they work tenaciously to find the perfect shot. The German player Robin Horvath leads the LDET ranking with 4,500 points and three wins (France, Hungary and Germany). He also has the LDET record with 443 yards, a spectacular distance reached last June in St. Petersburg.

The ranking is more adjusted and exciting than ever; Robin has a slim 200 point lead over “The Beard” Martin Borgmeier, which means we can anticipate more matchups between the top two German bombers in the next 3 events. 

At the moment 5 players are qualified for the big finals (Horvath, Borgmeier, Brooks, Nicolle & Lubbe) and the next 2 events will decide who take the other 3 spots. Some players have some advantage (Marionex, Petrasch and Palm) but they cannot relax. Behind them and very close we have Roberts, Kivini, Petrorius & Latta. 

Format of the tournament

Saturday 20^th will be the big day of the MASTERS LDET CUP. The show will begin at 11am. The professional players will be seeded in two groups and the competition system will be like the football “Champions League” system.

Each player will play 3 matches against the other players of the group at the best of three sets. Each victory will count 1 point. After the preliminary stage, the players will play the quarterfinals, the semi-finals and the final.

The competition is conceived as a show, so the public, the players and the media will enjoy a great atmosphere. The entrance for the general public is free.