Justin James (born March 17, 1990 in Ponte Vedre Beach, Fla.) is a World Long Drive competitor. James competes in events that are sanctioned by the World Long Drive Association, which is owned by

Golf Channel Golf Channel (also verbally referred to as simply Golf) is an American sports television network owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded in Birmingham, Alabama, it is currently based out of NBC S ...

, part of the

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, and a division of Comcast. The season-long schedule features events airing live on Golf Channel, culminating in the Volvik

World Long Drive Championship The World Long Drive Championship is an annual long drive competition in the sport of golf. It was first held in 1974, and since 2000 has comprised Open, Masters (over-45s) and Women's events. From 1995 to 2013, the events were sanctioned by the ...

in September. James resides in Jacksonville, Fla., and won the 2017 Volvik World Long Drive Championship on Sept. 6, 2017 at WinStar World Casino & Resort in Thackerville, Okla. Upon realizing his 435-yard winning drive landed in the grid to seal his victory over Canadian Mitch Grassing in the championship round, James spontaneously ran straight toward the Championship belt, and grabbed it on his way to leaping up into the stands to celebrate the win with his wife and father.

World Long Drive career

James first made his name in World Long Drive competition in 2017. In addition to his World Championship win in September, James captured the Bash for Cash (Canada) and Bluff City Shootout (Tennessee) Tour Events on the 2017 World Long Drive schedule. In August 2018, James added another Tour event win at the Tennessee Big Shots benefiting Niswonger Children’s Hospital in Kingsport, Tenn., which aired live on

Before World Long Drive

Prior to becoming a World Long Drive competitor, James played minor league baseball in the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

organization. He was a right-handed pitcher for both the Class A Bluefield Blue Jays of the Appalachian League in 2012 and the Class A Vancouver Canadians of the Northwest League in 2013. He also graduated from Trinity Baptist College, where he later coached the golf team for two seasons. James is a TPI certified fitness professional, and was featured in ''Muscle & Fitness'' magazine.

Personal life

James’ father, Gerry, formerly competed in World Long Drive, and like Justin, is a world champion, winning the Masters Division (age 45+) in 2005 and 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Justin American male golfers American long drive golfers 1990 births Living people People from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida Golfers from Florida Bluefield Blue Jays players Vancouver Canadians players Baseball players from Florida College golf coaches in the United States