The 2016 ParaLong Drive Cup

The 2016 ParaLong Drive Cup

The University of Tennessee in Knoxville hosted The 2016 ParaLong Drive Cup at the Day Golf Practice Facility. ParaLong Drive founder, Dean Jarvis was ecstatic when he first made the announcement that U.T. would be hosting his 2016 event. The event was held July 10th and 11th with an outstanding field of competitors.

ParaLong Drive grew out of Dean’s original organization, the Amputee Long Drive Championship. Dean saw the need to allow hitters with a variety of conditions the opportunity to compete. This year’s ParaLong Drive Cup had entries including: Below the knee single leg amputees; Below the knee double leg amputees; Above the knee single leg amputees; Single arm amputees; Traumatic brain injury; and Cerebral Palsy. “Deans organization kind of bridges the gap among the adaptive golf organizations,” said Kenny Green, Executive Director of the National Amputee Golf Association. “He’s opened the door so golfers with other disabilities can compete on the same stage. We support his organization, and he supports ours.”

A common theme among all the adaptive golf organizations, and evident from the interviews we conducted at the 2016 ParaLong Drive Cup, is the drive to have “disabled” golf to become part of the Paralympics. We very carefully use the word disabled here, because none of these competitors consider themselves disabled. We hear them refer to “able-bodied” golfers, but they would prefer “differently-abled” over disabled to describe their conditions. No matter what you call it, sadly it is not part of the 2016 Paralympics, and from all we’ve gathered has missed the opportunity to be part of the 2020 Paralympics. So, these dedicated competitors are focused in their drive to make it to the 2024  Paralympics.

The competition was really close this year. Even though the beautiful U.T. grid along the Tennessee River was fairly soft from recent rains, The ParaLong Drive Cup produced some of the best drama seen in any competition so far. ParaLong Drive titans Jared Brentz and Brendon Jacks engaged in another epic battle similar to the 2014 ParaLong Drive Nationals that went down to their last swings.

In the final round of their set Jacks and Brentz tied with drives of 334 yards. In a best-of-six ball playoff Brentz out drove Jacks with his last swing. You could see the expression on Jack’s face when the ball left Brentz’s club, as we spectators could tell by the sound….it was big. Jared Brentz won the playoff and a beautiful Rockwell watch.

Competition was really close among all the hitters. Here is how they finished:

University of Tennessee Mack & Jonnie Day Golf Facility Results
334 yards – Jared Brentz* (below-knee amputee)
334 yards – Brendon Jacks (below-knee amputee)
322 yards – Nick Stillwell** (below-knee amputee)
298 yards – Dr. Lucian Newman III** (arm amputee)
287 yards – Tracy Ramin (below-knee amputee)
281 yards – Josh Williams (below-knee amputee)
278 yards – Kenny Green (below-knee amputee)
278 yards – Steve Ehretsman (below-knee amputee)
268 yards – Dean Jarvis*** (above-knee amputee)
245 yards – Brian Woliver (traumatic brain injury)
239 yards – Humberto Reyna (traumatic brain injury)
222 yards – Daryl Rossi (one armed hitter)
190 yards – Tyler Bunn (cerebral palsy)
187 yards – Michael Yoder (one armed hitter)
* won 6 ball play-off
** hit on Sunday July 10th
*** hit on Tuesday July 12th

The 2016 ParaLongDrive Cup  is in the books, and founder / organizer, Dean Jarvis is already working on the 2017 event, as well as looking for other venues and sponsors to support his events. To keep up with Dean and all his efforts check out his website at httpss://www.amputeelongdrivechampionship.com and here at TGD. It is our pleasure to be associated with this organization and to provide more visibility for the cause.

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ParaLong Drive Cup 2016 Highlight Video . veg from Zeus Digital Marketing on Vimeo.