The Jim Shockey Classic Golf Tournament on December 2 and 3, 2018 will help benefit the Freedom Hunters organization.
Jim Shockey, along with Freedom Hunters, a Colorado-based non-profit group dedicated to reuniting veterans and military families with the great outdoors, have teamed up to host The Jim Shockey Classic.
The event will go down in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at the Grande Dunes Members Club & Grande Dunes Ocean Club on December 2 and 3, 2018.
We recently spoke with Jim, and he was eager to talk about the upcoming Classic. As a matter of fact, he had just come off the golf course, where he was braving some rain to get his swing in order before the tournament.
"I went out to play golf this morning in North Carolina and got poured on," he said. "It would be perfect duck hunting weather, that's a guarantee."
Nonetheless, he knew he needed to get some rounds in prior to next month's event. He's got to at least try and hold his own, since the attendees include professional long driver Paul Howell, as well as Golf Channel commentators and pros Jerry Foltz and Karen Stupples.
Shockey and the tournament crew will be working to raise funds and awareness for what's understood as one of, if not the first non-profits that set out to give veterans unique and memorable hunting experiences.
Freedom Hunters was founded by Anthony Pace, a longtime friend and acquaintance of Shockey's. In fact, their relationship (and Shockey's initial idea) helped spark the organization's creation.
"He actually owned the fulfillment house for my original VHS videos, back in, boy, it'd be the early 90s," Shockey said, referring to Pace. "He was looking forward, and saying that VHS videos probably weren't the future, and I said 'Listen, you only have one life, why not use it for good, and work on creating an organization that takes veterans of the armed forces hunting?'"
Though that notion is more familiar these days, there wasn't anything like it back then. The two brainstormed, and Anthony turned the momentum into the incarnation of Freedom Hunters.
"We've come full circle now, and joined forces for this golf tournament that I had held for six years in Tucson," Shockey said, "We gave it a couple years hiatus, and now we're reinstating it with the Freedom Hunters in Myrtle Beach."
Not everyone knows this, but Shockey is an active member of the Canadian Armed Forces, serving the rank of Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel (HLCol) of the 4th Canadian Ranger Patrol Group. The idea of giving back to veterans is something near and dear to his heart.
The schedule for the two-day event includes a Jim Shockey meet and greet, a military presentation, a fundraiser auction, a military tribute golf tournament on a private 18-hole facility, and a post-golf awards BBQ banquet dinner.
"I hope people who ever remotely consider themselves a golfer to come out," said Shockey. "The more the merrier. I'll be waiting on one hole for everybody to come through, and I don't know if it's legal here in the Carolinas to place bets, but I may be placing bets on everyone coming through that I can put a ball closer to the hole than they can."
Tickets go from $200 per person for the meet and greet and auction, $250 for the 18-hole tournament and awards BBQ, and up to $399 per person for a full event access package.
"It's really, truly, a fun event," Shockey said. "You don't even have to be a good golfer. Trust me, I'm not a good golfer, but it's fun. You're out there with other hunters, who think the same, doing good for good people who've served our country. What more could you ask? We're all kindred spirits in the hunting community."
To us, it sounds like you couldn't help but have fun at an event like that.
NEXT: JIM SHOCKEY'S FIRST-PERSON ACCOUNT OF BEING ATTACKED BY A COUGAR
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