A couple things that Martin Borgmeier has in common with his beard: Borgmeier’s name is also “Beard,” and his beard is long and impressive, much like Borgmeier hits it long, and his 2018 season has been impressive.
The tour’s no. 1-ranked player added another notch to his 2018 belt after claiming the first-ever Russian Championship this past weekend, cushioning his lead in the fight for the 2018 LDET title. 2017 Champion Matt Nicolle and his fellow countryman Jordan Brooks finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
While Nicolle has remained competitive all season and is always a safe bet, it seemed nothing could have stopped Borgmeier in the final round. The Beard dropped three consecutive 400-yard bombs in the finals (417/402/405) besting Nicolle’s 365/405/389 and adding the Russia Championship trophy to his staunch 2018 resume.
Brooks defeated the tour’s no.2-ranked Robin Horvath, 406/422/390 to 419/401/385, for the last spot on the podium and a top-5 tour ranking going into the last half of the season.
Next up for the LDET bombers is the Hungry Championship, July 13-14, at Zala Springs Golf Resort. Follow Long Driver European Tour on Facebook and Instagram for live coverage of the event, and CBG for the weekend follow up.
————————————————— Original post —————————————————
The LDET makes it Russia debut June 2-3 at Peterhof Golf Club. (Photo courtesy LDET)
The first half of the 2018 LDET season has already been a blast, and it’s adding one more exclamation point before entering the home stretch. The tour makes its way to Russia for the Russia Championships June 2-3, at Peterhof Golf Club in St. Petersburg, bringing its energetic atmosphere and jaw dropping competitive long drives to the country for the first time in history.
Martin “The Beard” Borgmeier (GER) and his fellow countryman Robin “The Hungarian Hulk” Horvath will take the top two LDET rankings with them to the event while defending the Euro champion, no.3 ranked Matt Nicole (ENG), looks to close the gap between him and the top spot. As of this writing, un-ranked Inar Kuramshin is the only Russian vying for the championship in his home country (and at his home course).
For Peterhof Golf Club, the Russia championship is something of a birthday celebration. The par-71 course opened in June 2017 near the Peterhof and Konstantinovsky palaces as the only 18-hole course in the city. To mark the event, the 5911-meter course will host a pro-am contest on Saturday, challenging LDET players and amateurs with its water-laden layout, thick rough and wild grasses in friendly competition — an official LDET practice session follows.
(Photo courtesy LDET)
“It is a big honor for Peterhof Golf Club and the city of Saint Petersburg to host a stage of LDET in Russia,” Kuramshin, golf manager and coach at Peterhof, says. “All the [Peterhof] team as well as the golfers are very much looking forward to what is going to be a great golf weekend with a ProAm and the most exciting show in Golf.”
After Saturday’s festivities, Sunday’s not to be missed. Amateur qualifying rounds begin the build up to the main event, followed by the pro qualifier later that morning. After lunch comes the amateur semifinals and finals, and the always exciting Top16 round. From the quarters on, players will take their best of three sets in a matchplay elimination rounds until one player claims the inaugural Russia Championship trophy.
CGB will be updating this post with results and video of the event.
In other news, and speaking to the continuing growth of the tour, LDET has announced a new tour sponsor the week leading up to the Russian Championship. JetVIP, a Russia-based aviation broker, is adding to the winning spoils by offering the top 3 finishers a free charter flight, and a 200-Euro check to the champion in addition to its support for the tour. See more on the new partnership here.