Dominican Republic International LongDrive Championship Finals Finish in Style in Costambar Puerto Plata

    COSTAMBAR, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, December 05, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The finals of the International LongDrive Championships at Los Mangos Golf Club were held November 18-21, 2014 in Costambar, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Play began with the women's division finals and 2013 ILDC and Re/Max World Champion Heather LeMaster (USA) looked solid all day and won the Women's Championships over Fareen Samji (CAN) by 8 yards. LeMaster has now won this title for 3 straight years and claimed US$1,900 for her victory.

In the senior division it was the battle of the Americans and Brian Lawler defeated Bobby Peterson after a neck and neck battle all week. Due to the double elimination format Peterson had to defeat Lawler twice in the finals. Peterson won the first final to force a second one and Lawler prevailed to win the senior division and US$1,900 just a day before his 45th Birthday on November 22.

The headwind continued gusting for the Open Division and Chris Mason of Canada defeated Kevin Shook of the US in the finals. Shook defeated Mason in the first final however after 5 more out of bounds in the second set, Mason won on his 6th ball to claim his first ever ILDC Championship and collect US$3,500.

Team play ended the day with the hometown favorites Team DR advancing to the quarter finals before getting eliminated by Team USA 1. In an interesting turn of events Team USA 1 lost to Team International 2 with Carlos Jose Abbott ( DR ) in the first appearance of a Dominican Player ever in the History of Long Drive Golf, in the team semi finals. Team USA 1 consisted of:
Damien Payne
Mike Dobbyn
Brian Lawler
Heather LeMaster
Bobby Peterson

International 2 then proceeded to the finals and defeated Team Canada 4 to win the team event . Each member of the winning team received US$1000 for the win. Team International was created by random draw :
Carlos Jose Abbott ( DR )
Jake Hansen ( USA )
Niilo Schonfeld ( CAN )
Liezl Diffenthal ( SA )
Brian Lawler ( USA )

Team Canada 4
David Dahms
Ryan Huddleston
Dalton Koopmans
Debbie Peever
Bram Churchill

The true spirit of longdrive golf was revealed throughout the event when several longdrivers stepped in to share equipment and hitting techniques with the three Open hitters from the D.R. (Julio Santos, Javier Nunez and Carlos Jose Abbott) All three D.R hitters came to the competition with regular length play drivers and after some experimentation with other long drive clubs borrowed from hitters it would appear that equipment truly does make a difference as Julio Santos was only edged out by 7 inches in the Semi Finals and Carlos Jose Abbott led Team International 2 to the Championship Victory. Long drive clubs are longer than regular play drivers but all must meet the USGA standard of 50 inches measured vertically.

Event Organizer Tracey Cuesta, President of the Professional LongDrive Golf Association, expressed her gratitude to the Los Mangos Golf and Beach Club for opening their doors to such an amazing event and to LifeStyle Holiday Resorts and the Gran Ventana Beach Resort for Player and Family Accommodations as well as to the Local Tourism Board, Excursions and Local Vendors who welcomed the International teams with open arms. This is the very first time in the History of the sport that LongDrive Golf has been practiced in the Dominican Republic with local players representing the country in any event. Cuesta added: "We are greatly looking forward to our International events here at Los Mangos next year in 2015 and helping increase our country's profile as the Go To place for Golf and Adventure Tourism that now includes Professional LongDrive Golf Events. We wish to thank the ILDC for bringing their event to the Dominican Republic this year and wish them the very best in the future with their other events in different countries across the globe. Our events next year will be focused on bringing in Professional LongDrive Golfers from around the globe, especially Europe, Africa and Asia and will become Permanent Yearly Events designed to complement all of the other LongDrive Golf Events Worldwide in an effort to help grow what was introduced to the world by Happy Gilmore, "The Home Run Derby of Golf" into a household name as the Extreme Golf sport that it truly is." Juan Cohen, President of FEDOGOLF, The Dominican Republic Golf Federation cites: "LongDrive Golf is exciting, it's alive, it's extreme, it's exhilarating and the Dominican Republic is a perfect fit and we are proud to have been chosen as the Permanent Home of the Professional LongDrive Golf Association for their yearly World Championship events."

Los Mangos Golf and Beach Resort is a Private Community on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic located in Costambar. Costambar, a residential tourism development in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, was initiated in 1972 as a development project of the Association for the Development of Latin America (ADELA), a banking consortium made up of important banks of the United States, Europe and Japan.

Today, Costambar has more than 800 housing units: 221 houses owned mainly by Americans, Canadians and Europeans, 68 apartment complexes with a total of 589 apartments. The community has hotels, restaurants, commercial establishments, medical facilities and a hospital, golf and country club facilities, spas and many more amenities.

PanAm Development Corporation, a Panamanian company, acquired approximately 125 acres of ocean-front land in Costambar in 1990, and established a gated community called Los Mangos Golf and Beach Resort. Within Los Mangos, several residential projects are being developed, centered around a golf and country club, with amenities to cater to people wishing to live a leisurely lifestyle with comfort, sophistication and activities to take advantage of the tropical Caribbean weather. Los Mangos Golf Club is the Permanent home to the Professional LongDrive Golf Association.

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