April 20, 2009--The beginnings of the RE/MAX Long Drive Championship can be traced back to Las Vegas because many years ago, the event was held under the lights at Las Vegas National Golf Club and the owner, Art Sellinger, is a former Las Vegas resident. The event then moved to its current home in Mesquite, Nev. (77 miles from Las Vegas), and now local and regional qualifying sites have been announced. Qualifiers can earn a spot in the Finals that will be held October 25-30, 2009. There are at least 110 local qualifying sites in 10 regions in the United States, with more around the world. Click now to find the site nearest to you.

"We are coming off the best, most successful finals week in RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship history, and we’re determined to build on that momentum in 2009 and beyond,” says former Las Vegas resident Art Sellinger, the owner and CEO of Long Drivers of America. The field for the 2009 RE/MAX world finals in Mesquite will consist of 144 open division hitters, 54 senior division (45-up) competitors and 36 super senior (53-up) competitors. The event is held at the official Long Drive Grid at Mesquite Regional Park.

The 2009 RE/MAX WLDC purse will be $550,000. The open division champion, widely recognized as the longest hitter in golf, will earn $250,000. Reigning RE/MAX world champions are Canadian Jamie Sadlowski (open division) and Americans Dan Boever (senior) and Mike Gorton (super senior). Mesquite, Nevada, is home to six Las Vegas Golf Region golf courses, including the award-winning Wolf Creek Golf Club. Wolf Creek is made up of 18 fantasy golf holes that wind through the canyons that overlook the city of Mesquite. Click now for official tee times at Wolf Creek Golf Club.

The cost of local qualifying is $40, and the total number of big hitters that move on to the regional qualifying is based on how many qualifiers try at the local event. For example, at an event with 7-15 golfers competing, two golfers will advance. For an event with 16-25, there will be three. Click now for complete rules and guidelines for all qualifying.

Wolf Creek is consistently ranked as one of America’s Top 100 Best Public Courses in all major and regional publications. In 2007 - 2008, Golf Magazine presented Wolf Creek with its prestigious Architecture Award in recognition of outstanding design. And the editors of Golf Digest and the National Panel of Course Raters named Wolf Creek as course No. 25 among “America’s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses 2007 – 2008; Wolf Creek was also ranked No.29 out of 100 among GolfWeek’s Best Resort Courses in 2009. And Wolf Creek was recently ranked 14th in a Top 50 Golfweek readers poll.

The other Mesquite golf courses are Casablanca Golf Club, a Cal Olson design that is located adjacent to the Casablanca Resort; The Oasis Golf Club, 36 holes of terrific golf including a tempting design by Arnold Palmer; Falcon Ridge Golf Club, another Mesquite golf course that winds through the native desert; and The Palms Golf Club, the original Mesquite golf course that is a joy to play and is the hom of a flat, water-filled front nine and a canyon, mountainess back nine.