(June 10, 2018 – Las Vegas, NV)  The 2018 Golden Tee World Championship is in the history books, resulting in high stakes drama, incredible competition, and a brand new Golden Tee champion.  Over $104,000 was awarded during the 3-day event, as well as thousands of dollars more on wagers sanctioned by the Nevada Gaming Board.

The impressive 800-seat Showroom at The Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas was buzzing with excitement as it played host to the 2018 Golden Tee World Championship June 8-10.  After three days of intense competition, surprising upsets and incredible video golf, Evan Gossett of St. Peters MO bested the field of 64 of the world’s most skilled and talented Golden Tee players to become the newest World Champion and $20,000 richer.

Most of the Contenders qualified for the Championship through online play events on commercial Golden Tee machines during the months of February, March and April.  The final spot was offered the first day of the event to the winner of a special “Closest to the Pin” match that was open to the public.  Dave Sandmire of Waterloo WI won the coveted spot in dramatic fashion, beating competitor Tony Johnson of MN on the very last hole.

Day 2 of the event featured qualifying heats on each course to determine the head-to-head matches for Day 3.  The players ranked 1-32 were placed in a double-elimination Champion bracket, while the bottom 32 were added to a single-elimination Silver bracket.  Many of the early favorites found themselves facing some tough matches as they battled to stay in the competition.

Former World Champ Andy Haas of Ohio, the number one seed, lost his first match to Jeff Harlow, also a former world champ.  Mark Stenmark of Kansas, and last year’s World Champion, battled all the way to the semi-final round before being defeated by Joe Massara of MO.  Massara went on to the finals against Evan Gossett, who went undefeated throughout the tourney with scores of -30, -31, -31, -28 and -31.

In the first round of the finals match, Massara dropped a massive -32 score, handing Gossett his only loss of the day.  But on round 2 of the finals, Gossett prevailed with another -31, thanks in part to a spectacular double eagle on hole 12 of Rattlesnake Ridge.  Gossett, a 9:1 odds favorite, won the crown and the $20,000 first prize.  Massara won $10,000 for his second place finish, and Clint Grover of IL won the top spot in the Silver Bracket and $3000.

In addition to his winnings, Gossett will become a playable golfer in the Golden Tee 2019 course update available this October.  Golden Tee 2019 marks the 30^th anniversary for Golden Tee.

Over 7 hours of exciting game action and commentary from the event can be seen on YouTube . 

World Championship leaderboards and brackets can be found atthe LIVEWIRE website and GT Caddy app, as well as Facebook and Twitter. 

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