{"id":1509,"date":"2023-04-11T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/3.34.14.113\/en\/2023\/04\/11\/national-top-screen-long-drive-selection-golfzon-gdr-academy-successfully-holds-the-first-round-of-the-2023-gdr-the-longest\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T06:12:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T06:12:29","slug":"national-top-screen-long-drive-selection-golfzon-gdr-academy-successfully-holds-the-first-round-of-the-2023-gdr-the-longest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/national-top-screen-long-drive-selection-golfzon-gdr-academy-successfully-holds-the-first-round-of-the-2023-gdr-the-longest\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;National Top Screen Long-Drive Selection&#8217;: GOLFZON GDR Academy Successfully Holds the First Round of the &#8216;2023 GDR The Longest&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><span>The first round of the &#8216;2023 GDR The Longest&#8217; was held on April 9 at the GDR <\/span><\/strong><strong><span>Academy Gangnam Center Field branch, with Hong Hyun-jun taking first place with a record of 384 yards<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span>A long-drive competition with a total prize pool of KRW 200 million through a partnership with World Long Drive (WLD); the nation&#8217;s top long-drive player will be determined by combining points with those of the final round this coming July<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span>The overall champion will be awarded a seed for the World Long Drive Championship<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><span>Through a Korean-style long-drive competition leveraging the accuracy and technological prowess of the GDR golf simulator, GOLFZON showcases diverse entertainment and the energetic appeal of long driving<\/span><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"638\" src=\"https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/04\/2eb7cde02ad7c0dd0003615c9dee6ecf-1024x638.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4115\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/04\/2eb7cde02ad7c0dd0003615c9dee6ecf-1024x638.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/04\/2eb7cde02ad7c0dd0003615c9dee6ecf-300x187.jpg 300w, https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/04\/2eb7cde02ad7c0dd0003615c9dee6ecf-768x479.jpg 768w, https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/04\/2eb7cde02ad7c0dd0003615c9dee6ecf-1536x957.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/04\/2eb7cde02ad7c0dd0003615c9dee6ecf-2048x1276.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/04\/2eb7cde02ad7c0dd0003615c9dee6ecf-1920x1197.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span>Photo. GOLFZON GDR Academy successfully concluded the first round of its nationwide long-drive competition, the &#8216;2023 GDR The Longest.&#8217;<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>GOLFZON GDR Academy (CEO Song Jae-soon) announced that on the 9th it successfully concluded the first round of its nationwide long-drive competition, the &#8216;2023 GDR The Longest,&#8217; at the GDR Academy Gangnam Center Field branch.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>Now in its second year, the &#8216;2023 GDR The Longest&#8217; is a Korean-style indoor long-drive competition that GOLFZON GDR Academy presents domestically through a partnership<\/span><span> with World Long Drive (WLD). In particular, as the only competition in Korea that awards a seed for the World Long Drive Championship, the fierce shot-making contest among the country&#8217;s leading long-drive talents drew significant attention. Building on the high-reliability technology of GDR\u2014recognized by WLD for its precise shot analysis and accurate data derivation\u2014GDR Academy is introducing a wider range of golf fans to diverse entertainment and the appeal of long driving, which is hard to encounter in conventional golf tournaments.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>The competition carries a total prize pool of KRW 200 million and is held over two stages: the first round and the final. This first round saw fierce competition among a total of 34 participants, with many of the nation&#8217;s top long-drive players taking part to deliver exhilarating shots of up to 384 yards in carry distance and ball speeds exceeding 95 m\/s, bringing the first round to a close amid an electric atmosphere. First place in the first round went to last year&#8217;s champion Hong Hyun-jun, who recorded the longest carry distance at 384 yards (351 m), followed by Choi Jong-hwan in second with 376 yards (343.9 m) and Kang Ho-in in third with 360 yards (329 m).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>The final round is scheduled for this coming July, where the nation&#8217;s top long driver will be selected by combining the points each participant earns across the competitions. Golfers who place will be awarded prize money along with a variety of additional prizes, including the GDR PLUS system, a CERAGEM Master V6, and an entry to the WLD Championship. Notably, this competition is scheduled to air in May through the Screen GOLFZON channel, a 24-hour broadcaster specializing in screen golf, offering an opportunity to experience the energetic appeal of long driving and to meet Korea&#8217;s hidden long-drive masters.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>Meanwhile, GOLFZON GDR Academy operates GDR Academy indoor golf practice facilities nationwide based on GDR (GOLFZON DRIVING RANGE), a golf simulator developed in-house by GOLFZON, championing the standardization and popularization of golf lessons. As the official golf simulator of the LPGA, GDR is characterized by its sophisticated and accurate ball-flight simulation. In particular, the &#8216;AI Coach&#8217; feature\u2014a mobile app service incorporating AI technology\u2014has been met with great enthusiasm, with around 20,000 analyses performed per day, contributing to higher-quality golf practice. The Academy is also striving to develop a range of services and technologies that meet golfers&#8217; needs, in step with the recent growth of Korea&#8217;s golf population\u2014newly drawn from the MZ generation in their 20s and 30s, female golfers, and others\u2014and the continually rising demand for golf practice that has accompanied it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span>Song Jae-soon, CEO of GOLFZON GDR Academy, said, &#8220;In this first round of &#8216;GDR The Longest,&#8217; the nation&#8217;s top long-drive players showcased their skills to the fullest and demonstrated the energetic appeal of long driving without reservation,&#8221; adding, &#8220;In the final round this July as well, we will precisely measure the explosive shot records of our long drivers with GDR&#8217;s differentiated technology to identify the standouts who will compete in the World Long Drive Championship, so we ask for your keen interest.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GOLFZON GDR Academy (CEO Song Jae-soon) announced that on the 9th it successfully concluded the first round of its nationwide long-drive competition, the &#8216;2023 GDR The Longest,&#8217; at the GDR Academy Gangnam Center Field branch. Now in its second year, the &#8216;2023 GDR The Longest&#8217; is a Korean-style indoor long-drive competition that GOLFZON GDR Academy presents domestically through a partnership with World Long Drive (WLD). In particular, as the only competition in Korea that awards a seed for the World Long Drive Championship, the fierce shot-making contest among the country&#8217;s leading long-drive talents drew significant attention. Building on the high-reliability technology of GDR\u2014recognized by WLD for its precise shot analysis [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"family":[15],"class_list":["post-1509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-center","category-press-release","family-golfzon-korea"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1509"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4116,"href":"https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1509\/revisions\/4116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1509"},{"taxonomy":"family","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.golfzon.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/family?post=1509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}