Nerves of Steel
Dalen DeMary of Gilbert, AZ battled his way through the most exceptional field of amateur drivers in North America as he claimed the 2008 Exceptional Driver Champion title and $100,000 in cold hard cash.

DeMary proved himself worthy of such title and cash with his final two swings. DeMary found himself behind in his match with Rick Dimick of Eagle Pointe, OR by 14 points with only two balls remaining. With cameras rolling and a the pressure rising, both DeMary’s fourth and fifth swings produced drives of 12 and 11 points. No tricked up clubs or custom action here, DeMary used a stock Titleist driver at standard length  of 45 inches. "I think it's an X flex" DeMary says, "but I'm not sure". With a repeatable action such as his, it did not seem to matter what club was in his hands.

This smooth swinging 28 year-old will be the feature star in the upcoming Golf Channel broadcast of the 2008 Exceptional Driver Championship premiering August 28, 10PM EST. Each of the final eight competitors were assigned a camera crew that followed them wherever they traveled prior to Saturday's match play finals. Look for a more reality based documentary this year as PGA Tour Productions adds a new spin to the Exceptional Driver Championship week.

MATCH PLAY RECAP
QUARTERFINALS
 
Seed 8 – David Ladner – ob, 10, ob, 10, ob = 20 points 
Seed 1 – Casey Fowles – 11, ob, 12, ob, 12 = 35 points
 
Seed 5 – Dalen DeMary – ob, 13, 13, 12, ob = 38 points
Seed 4 – David Dover – ob, 10, ob, ob,       = 10 points
 
Seed 6 – Daniel Dian-Granados – ob, ob, 12, 10, ob = 22 points
Seed 3 – RickDimick – 10, ob, ob, 10, 11 = 31 points
 
Seed 7 – Justin Linington – ob, 14, 13, ob        = 27 points
Seed 2 – Frank Hartwick – 11, 11, ob, 9, 12 = 43 points
 
SEMIFINALS
 
W M1 – Casey Fowles – 11, ob, ob, 11, ob = 22
W M2 – Dalen DeMary – ob, 11, 11, 12       = 34
 
W M3 – Rick Dimick – 9, 10, 10              = 29
W M4 – Frank Hartwick – 10, 11, ob, ob, ob = 21
 
FINALS
 
Dalen DeMary – ob, 12, ob, 12, 11 = 35 pts WINNER
Rick Dimick – 9, 10 ob, ob, 9         = 28 pts

Along with six other finalists, they will compete for a $100,000 payoff in Long Drivers of America’s accurate driving contest for amateur golfers.

Fowles (Washington, Utah) and Hartwick (Irving, Texas) led the Friday scoring parade at the Palms GC in Round 7, posting 55 and 42 points, respectively.

At the other end of the spectrum after a shootout of the top 20 qualifiers were Justin Linington (Fort Collins, Colorado) and David Ladner (Port St. Lucie, Florida), who landed the final two seeds via wildcard.

Ladner survived a three-way playoff with Bobby Andrews and Daniel Eskew to become the eighth seed. He will square off against Fowles in the opening quarterfinals match on Saturday night. Lingington will face Hartwick in the co-feature.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET:
Casey Fowles (1), Washington, Utah, vs. David Ladner (8), Port St. Lucie, Florida;
David Dover (4), Gig Harbor, Washington, vs. Dalen DeMary (5), Gilbert, Arizona;
Rick Dimick (3), Eagle Point, Oregon, vs. Daniel Diaz-Granados (6), Houston, Texas;
Justin Lingington (7) Fort Collins vs. Frank Hartwick II (2), Irving, Texas.

Saturday evening’s festivities at the Palms GC begin at 5:30 p.m. with an Adams Golf Demo Day, featuring the new Insight Prototype 9015D and 9016D drivers available exclusively through Sellinger’s Power Golf.

A junior Exceptional Driver Championship challenge, featuring junior golfers from the Mesquite area, follows at 6:30 p.m., while at 7 p.m. some lucky EDC fan will be selected from the gallery to take one swing for a potential $100,000 windfall in Golf Mesquite Nevada’s “Drive of a Lifetime” promotion.

The EDC finals, being taped by the Golf Channel for an August 28 premiere, get underway at 7:15 p.m. The last man standing will walk away with $100,000 and the title “Most Exceptional Driver of the Ball in North America.”
Admission is free to all events.

FRIDAY EDC LEADERBOARD
Top Two-Set Scores:
Justin James, 108 (Rounds 5-6)
Dalen DeMary, 107 (Rounds 5-6)
Daniel Diaz-Granados, 94 (Rounds 5-6)
Jeff Stewart, 82 (Rounds 5-6)
Casey Fowles, 74 (Rounds 5-6)
Paul Koszarek, 73 (Rounds 5-6)
Daniel Eskew, 71 (Rounds 5-6)

Top Set Scores:
Dalen DeMary, 73 (Round 6)
Daniel Diaz Granados, 72 (Round 5)
Justin James, 72 (Round 6)
Vincent Johnson, 50 (Round 6)
Matt Hangar, 50 (Round 5)

MATCH-PLAY FINALISTS WITH ROUND 7 TOTALS
Casey Fowles (1), 55
Frank Hartwick (2), 42
Rick Dimick (3), 40
David Dover (4), 39
Dalen DeMary (5), 38
Daniel Diaz-Granados (6), 37
Justin Lingington (7), 33
David Ladner (8), 27 (Won playoff for final seed)

Casey Fowles racked up the top score in the winner’s bracket on Thursday as the 2007-08 Exceptional Driver Championship Presented by Golf Mesquite Nevada continued at the Palms GC in Mesquite, Nevada.

Fowles, who hails from nearby Washington, Utah, led a group of 25 competitors who will join a like number from Wednesday’s opening day for Friday morning’s Round 5. Play begins at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

Eight hitters will advance to Saturday, and the match-play portion of Long Drivers of America’s accurate driving contest for amateur golfers.

The last man standing Saturday evening will claim a $100,000 winner-take-all first prize and the title "Most Exceptional Driver of the Golf Ball in North America."

Fowles, 23, a +2 handicapper whose home course is Coral Canyon in St. George (Utah), posted a two-set total of 96 points to capture Group N, the last of the day. A total of 140 competitors, winners of regional qualifying events across North America, qualified for the EDC finals.

Other group winners on Thursday included Vincent Johnson (Group H, 80 points); Dave Gourno (Group B, 76 points); Jeff Underbrink (Group J, 59 points); Justin James (Group K, 67 points); Brad Habenicht (Group L, 69 points); Rick Dimick (Group M, 76 points).

The Exceptional Driver Championship Presented by Golf Mesquite Nevada will be taped by the Golf Channel for a premiere in late August.

Also on tap for Friday’s card at the Palms GC is LDA’s 2008 Desert Duel, a professional long drive event. Play in the women’s and senior divisions will take place in the afternoon and early evening. Open division hitters will be in action on Saturday.

THURSDAY EDC LEADERBOARD

TOP TWO-SET TOTALS:

Daniel Thogmartin, 111 (Round Three)

James Rankin, 98 (Round Three)

Casey Fowles, 96 (Round One)

Chris Sauer, 88 (Round Three)

Roger Bowen, 85 (Round Three)

A.J. Doherty, 84 (Round Three)

Greg Whittemore, 84 (Round Three)

Vincent Johnson, 80 (Round One)

Chris Powell, 79 (Round One)

Daniel Eskew, 78 (Round One)

Dave Gourno, 76 (Round One)

Rick Dimick, 76 (Round One)

James Nelson, 76 (Round Three)

Wayne Beck, 76 (Round Three)

Justin Linnington, 75 (Round One)

James Baker, 75 (Round One)

 TOP ONE-SET TOTALS:

A.J. Doherty, 72 (First set, Round Three)

Danny Seman, 67 (First set, Round One)

Brett Hermann, 61 (First set, Round Three)

James Rankin, 60 (First set, Round Three)

Casey Fowles, 59 (First set, Round One)

Daniel Thogmartin, 59 (Second set, Round Three)

Roger Bowen, 57 (First set, Round Three)

Kevin Stewart, 55 (First set, Round Three)

Alex Theodore, 54 (First Set, Round Three)

Daniel Eskew, 53 (Second set, Round One)

James Nelson, 53 (Second set, Round Three)

Chris Powell, 52 (Second set, Round One)

Daniel Thogmartin, 52 (First set, Round Three)

Denny Kopko, 52 (First set, Round Three)

Wayne Beck, 48 (First set, Round Three)

Rick Dimick, 46 (First set, Round One)

Dave Gourno, 44 (Second set, Round One)

A.J. Doherty, 43 (Second set, Round One)