Hometown of five-time PGA Tour winner Blaine McCallister, who shows how giving back and taking care of your own is done – West Texas style
Fort Stockton, Texas isn’t the easiest place in the world to find. And the McCallister Invitational isn’t the easiest golf tournament in the world to land a spot, which is what makes Steve Elkington’s trek to this west Texas town of 8,283 people the epitome of “rural golfing.”
Throw in a little dove hunting, a little getting to know Elkington’s good buddy and fellow Champions Tour pro Blaine McCallister and a little loud science protecting pecans and that’s what awaits viewers of this week’s episode of “The Rural Golfer”, which can be seen on RFD-TV at 9:30 p.m. (ET) today, with encore shows airing at 12:30 p.m. Sunday (ET) and the following Friday at 6 a.m. (ET).
We join Elkington in Ft. Stockton, Texas, where water is scarcer than the oil that comes from some of the pumps scattered through this small desert town, the pecans are as prolific as the cattle and sheep the ranchers raise here and the pride that McCallister has in his hometown is equaled only by the pride his hometown has in the five-time PGA TOUR champion.
Even a five-time PGA TOUR champion who begged his dad for his first set of golf clubs – clubs he used over and over again on a nine-hole course he later worked on to make some extra money.
“When I first started in golf, I really never thought about golf. I played third base and pitched and I thought that’s what I was going to do,” McCallister said. “Once I got the first taste of what it felt like to hit a golf ball, it was something I never experienced. It got inside of me and I said ‘I’m hooked.’ ”
Every year for the last 19 years, McCallister and his brother, Barry, return that pride with interest. Lots and lots of interest, both of the financial and physical presence type. The two sponsor a four-day dove hunt and golf tournament that raises funds for the local high school golf program. In fact, it funds the local high school golf program.
“The way things were in schools, golf was going to be cut and my brother and I said, ‘We’re not going to let that happen.’ What we came up with pays for green fees, we built locker rooms for both the boys and the girls teams, and we basically make sure that there will be a golf program for kids here in Fort Stockton,” McCallister said.
The tournament began 19 years ago with 76 two-man teams. Four years in, Barry McCallister had to cut things off at 100 teams, with teams coming in from as far away as Calgary and New York. Demand is still such that Barry McCallister is still turning would-be teams away.
“Pepole come from all over for one reason. Because of Blaine McCallister and what he’s doing here,” Elkington said. “I wanted people to know how important it is to for a guy like Blaine, who grew up on a nine-hole golf course and became a multiple winner on the PGA TOUR, to give back to his community in perpetuity. That’s one of the things ‘The Rural Golfer’ is all about.”
Because it always coincides with dove season, the McCallister Invitational’s dove hunt provided Elkington with a chance to hunt birdies of a different species. Afterwards, Ft. Stockton provided Elkington with a chance to hunt down the second-largest pecan orchard in Texas. There, at the 6,500-acre Belding Farm, he discovered not only a pecan orchard that produces five million pounds a year, but an innovative method for making sure those pecans get to your pie that came out of Rural America.
It’s a cannon. A cannon that looks like an upside-down rocket attached to a pot-bellied stove. When it fires, it sends a vibration of sound into the air that throws air pockets into damaging hail storms that could wipe out an entire crop. Instead, the hail turns to harmless slush.
“It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” a surprised Elkington said, when one went off next to him.
Throwing yet another surprise for viewers of “The Rural Golfer” to enjoy.
About Rural Media Group, Inc.: Rural Media Group, Inc. (RMG) is the world’s leading provider of multimedia content dedicated to the rural and western lifestyle. RMG is the parent company of RFD-TV, FamilyNet, RURAL TV, RURAL RADIO on SiriusXM channel 80, RFD-TV The Magazine and RFD-TV The Theatre. RFD-TV, the flagship network for RMG, launched in December 2000. RFD-TV is the nation’s first 24-hour television network dedicated to serving the needs and interests of rural America with programming focused on agriculture, equine, rural lifestyle, traditional country music and entertainment. Daily productions include Market Day Report and the Rural Evening News. RMG networks are distributed into more than 63-million homes worldwide by DBS, telco and cable systems including DISH Network, DIRECTV®, Comcast, Verizon FiOS TV, AT&T U-Verse, Mediacom, Charter, Brighthouse, Suddenlink, Time Warner, Cox and more than 600 independent rural cable systems. RFD-TV The Magazine is the print programming guide for the networks, which has attracted over 200,000 paid subscribers. RFD-TV The Theatre is a 2000 capacity soft seat venue in Branson, MO where entertainment programming is produced. RMG corporate headquarters are based in Omaha, NE and production operations are in Nashville, TN. For more information, visit www.rfdtv.com and join us on Facebook: RFD-TV Twitter: @OfficialRFDTV and Instagram: http://instagram.com/rfdtv
About Rural Golfer: Just about every person who has picked up a golf club has been afflicted with the desire to find the secret to the game. Some find it in practice, some in playing, and some in hardcore instruction. It is said to be found “in the dirt.” The Rural Golfer with Steve Elkington is a journey to find that elusive secret. A quest as seen through the eyes of Steve Elkington and his Rural Golfer team. The Rural Golfer follows Steve Elkington and the team on a quest to find the holy grail of golf, “the secret in the dirt,” that takes them on a journey of undiscovered territory. Rural Golfer will highlight the flavor of golf in major cities surrounding Champions Tour venues and along the way will delve into the hidden gems along the way that define golf in America.
For more information about The Rural Golfer with Steve Elkington, please visit www.ruralgolfer.com and join us on Facebook: Rural Golfer and on Twitter: @RuralGolfer.
Contact:
Brian Robin, Brener Zwikel & Associates
brianr@bzapr.com (818) 462-5610
