In the sporting world of long drives, Matt Jones, a 33 year old golfer from Bolton, is so good, he has become a professional long driver and has swiftly climbed the European ranks.

After only his first year on tour Matt has already achieved global success with a World Long Drive title under his belt. This year Matt has his sights set on much more!

During the 2023 season, whilst also competing on the European Long Drive Tour, Matt entered the World Long Drive (WLD) Virtual Championship and a drive of an incredible 408 yards put Matt straight to the top of the worldwide leader board. The following month, Matt once again proved he was a force to be reckoned with and a drive of 415 yards took him to the top of the leader board once again and into the final.
Unfazed by the additional pressure of being the championship front runner Matt saved his best for when it mattered most. On one of his final shots in the finals Matt was able to achieve an impressive 218.7mph ball speed, which resulted in a 416 yard drive and become the WLD Virtual Champion.

Matt said: “Winning a global competition, especially the way I did – as the favourite and then performing at my best under that pressure was a massive confidence boost, proving that I could compete with the best in the world.”

Looking ahead to this year, Matt has set his sights firmly on retaining his WLD Virtual Championship crown and also to compete in the US to secure his qualification to this year’s World Championship.

In addition, Matt intends to break into the top six of the European rankings and also win the European championship.

As the 2024 long drive season is approaching Matt is now looking for sponsors who would like to partner with him and support his journey whilst gaining exposure to a local as well as global audience.

Matt said: “As I am completely self-funded and also have a young family to support, having the means to be able to travel to the US and compete, in order to secure my place at the World Championships, is going to be a challenge, so I am looking for sponsors who can see the benefit of a partnership with me and who would like to gain exposure to a large market. I’m more than willing to discuss everything in more detail with anyone who would like to get in touch”.

For anyone who is interested and would like to know more, you can get in contact with Matt via his Instagram @mattjones_longdrive or his email matthew@thejonesys.co.uk

Matt’s family have also set up a GoFundMe page, at gofund.me/584fcfa4, in the hope that he can raise enough money to allow him to continue competing in Europe as well as enable him to travel and compete in the US.

Matt concluded: “If there is anyone that would like to support me on my journey it would be absolutely unbelievable and mean so much to both me and my family. I’d love to get to the World Championship and ‘do it for Bolton!’.
“I am so grateful for the support I’ve received from everyone so far. Hopefully this year I can go one step further than I did in 2023 and not only win the online WLD Virtual Championship but also get to the USA and compete at the WLD World Championship!”

Geoff Garnett