Charleroi native Trevor Consavage has a good reason to be going to Las Vegas next month.

Actually, the 2002 Charleroi Area graduate has 125,000 good reasons as he will be participating in the Re-Max World Long Drive Championships.

The winner walks away with $125,000 in prize money.

"I am very excited to be going to Vegas," Consavage said. "This is the 'World Series' of long drive competitions."

Consavage, who now resides in Orlando, will arrive in Las Vegas Oct. 23. The event will run from Oct. 27to 29.
For the competition, the golfers hit a ball into a grid that is 40 yards wide and 400 yards long.

To make it to the championships, Consavage had to advance at two tournaments.

He took second place at the local qualifier at the Falcon Fire Golf Course in Kissimmee, a suburb of Orlando. Consavage made the cut in a field of 65 with a drive of 345 yards, one yard behind the winner.

The top three advanced to the district regional at the Duran Golf Course in Viera, Fla., where Consavage won with a drive of 380 yards in the finals.

"The temperature was 94 degrees and the humidity was high," Consavage said. "It felt like I was hitting into a bowl of jell-o."

His longest drive was 386 yards.

There will be 128 golfers at the championships out of 14,000 who entered worldwide.

Consavage, who has been playing golf since he was 6 years old, is excited about the opportunity ahead of him.

"Considering that this is my first year focusing on long drives, I am happy to be going there," he said. "It is going to be fun and I hope to make it to the final day."

To make it that far, Consavage will have to finish in the top 20.

The event is double elimination and will take at least six rounds to make the finals, which consists of three rounds.

If the monetary prize is not enough motivation for Consavage, then the chance of appearing on ESPN is another plus.

"The quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals are going to air on ESPN on Christmas Day at 1 p.m.," he said. "That would be cool."

A month ago, Consavage was featured on WESH's newscast. WESH is Orlando's NBC affiliate.

"It was my first time on television, so I was excited," he said. "But at the same time I was a little nervous."

Regardless of his outcome in Las Vegas, Consavage will continue to play golf.

His instructor, Fred Griffin, is ranked as one of the top 25 instructors in the United States.

"He thinks I have the potential to play in some PGA events," Consavage said. "He says that he sees something in me."

The last thing that Consavage, a California University graduate with a degree in sports management, needs to do now is line up sponsors to take care of his travel and necessities for the trip.

"A lot of the other guys have corporate sponsors and big companies," Consavage said. "Pinnacle is sponsoring some guys as is Cobra."

For the trip, Consavage needs to raise more than $1,500. So far, he has come up with $550.

"Hopefully we can raise the rest of the money needed," the 23-year old said. "It would be one less thing to worry about.

"A lot of guys put themselves in the hole to pay for the tournament and it takes away from their focus. "I want to be able to focus on the championships."

Those interested in sponsoring Consavage can reach him at (724) 986-5052 or his parents at their home (724) 483-2163.