FIRST EVER DESERT FOOTGOLFER COMPETES IN PRO TOURNAMENTS

FIRST EVER DESERT FOOTGOLFER COMPETES IN PRO TOURNAMENTS

 The Southern California Coachella Valley desert FootGolf community is cheering for its first-ever professional player to compete in an international FootGolf tournament. The pressure is on Carlos Calixto to make the Coachella Valley proud. The Lights at Indio Golf Club and City of Indio is sponsoring Calixto’s participation in the AFGL Inter American FootGolf Trophy tournament in Miami, Florida, that finished up this week, and at the AFGL Atlantic FootGolf Cup at St. Lucie Trail Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida, next week.

“The Atlantic FootGolf Cup will feature approximately 100 FootGolf players from around the world competing for $17,500,” stated AFGL co-owner Roberto Balestrini. “Players from more than 15 countries, including Puerto Rico, Mexico, Holland, Argentina, Canada, Hungary, Japan, Norway, Italy, Brazil, France, Chile, England and Spain have registered to participate.”

Calixto does not intend to just show up at the tournaments. “I am a hardcore soccer player; the sport has been an integral part of my life big time,” said Calixto in an exclusive interview with GolfNews. “FootGolf and playing as a professional in a FootGolf tournament allows me to continue in the soccer world in a golf course atmosphere that is soothing, relaxing, and calm. I play lots and lots of soccer competitively and I’m going to the tournaments on the east coast to win! Why not! I thank the City of Indio for the opportunity and the level that I will be playing at.

Urging Calixto on was The Lights at Indio GC Operations Manager Joe Gill, “I told Carlos to practice every single day at The Lights so he’d be ready to compete. I encouraged him to go play as many different FootGolf courses as possible, and reminded him that the courses he will be playing on in Florida will be tournament ready for world, professional competition. The grass will be cut short. Finally, I said, ‘Have fun. Do the best you can.’”

Roberto Balestrini, AFGL co-owner with wife Laura Balestrini, couldn’t be happier about the relationship that’s been fostered between the AFGL, The Lights at Indio GC, and Landmark Golf, who manages The Lights, “The Lights and Landmark have been supporters of FootGolf from day one. From the beginning, they wanted to create a FootGolf course properly and worked closely with the AFGL in every detail to protect the integrity of both FootGolf and golf because we are integrating the two. Every time you go to The Lights you see happy faces, both golfers and FootGolfers sharing the same fairways. We at the American FootGolf League are very proud to have established our world headquarters in the Coachella Valley and very proud that The Lights is sending its first sponsored professional FootGolfer to the two east coast AFGL tournaments.

Photo caption: Carlos Calixto