By Darren Lum
Published March 21 2017
Perseverance is paying off for Haliburton’s most famous golfing duo Charlie Teljeur and Wayde Greer.
It’s been six years since the longtime friends had their television debut for the original Highways to Fairways. This time around the pair will have 13 new episodes as part of a television series by the same name and in the same spirit broadcasted to homes across the country on TSN.
It’s a fulfilment of efforts dating back close to 10 years since the idea was thought up by Teljeur and Greer. The first incarnation of Highways to Fairways followed the two playing golf at unique and interesting golf courses – one of them at a penitentiary. It was broadcasted on television and gave the duo a sense of accomplishment. Teljeur now realizes that was only the beginning.
“That was just the first chapter and then we went through the despair and the depression of oh my God it just failed. We failed. Nothing happened with it and then the rebirth” he said. “There’s such a sense of feeling humbled and also feeling extremely proud of this.”
The two never gave up and Teljeur said their success is a reminder of that.
“If you really believe in something as strongly as we do you just keep pushing something until it closes the door on you or opens it for you.”
Episode one the Other Motor City will air on TSN 1 at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday March 30 including weekly screenings of subsequent episodes.
It features five holes of an 18-hole golf course in the middle of the fabled Indianapolis Motor Speedway home to the Indy 500 car race.
Rather than play an entire course like they did in the original Highways to Fairways the two will play three holes with mystery guests and local legends learning about them their importance to the community and then interesting aspects of the area they visit. Their stay will also include other activities providing a greater showcase of the places they visit.
This is a reoccurring theme of all their shows. The shows will also be broadcasted on TSN 2 TSN 3 TSN 4 and TSN 5. Check highwaystofairways.com/schedule for times. Downtown Haliburton’s eatery McKecks is set to host a screening of the show on Thursday March 30.
Teljeur said none of this would be possible without the financial support of CIO and chief digital officer of I.T. World Canada Jim Love. The two appreciate the support.
TSN learned about the hosts from their hockey documentary There’s Something in the Water.
It led to an opportunity to present the show to TSN. Teljeur has a connection to several TSN personalities such as James Duthie and Bob McKenzie because of Steve Dryden a former Hockey News colleague of his.
Eleven of the 13 episodes have been shot. Teljeur said the remaining two episodes are scheduled to be shot in Canada coinciding with the start of the golf season here.
There will be seven Canadian destinations and six American places showcased in the show. Among them include stops in P.E.I. Drumheller Alta. Wolf Island Ont. Kelowna B.C. Texas North Carolina and West Virginia.
A typical episode takes on average five days to shoot. Usually the five-person crew will shoot an episode over five days. Two or three episodes were shot in the same period. Unlike the first Highways to Fairways when Greer and Teljeur were on the road for 58 days the crew shoots two or three episodes in a couple of weeks and then returns home.
Teljeur says there are many strong Haliburton connections to the show: the hosts live here Haliburton County Development Corporation invested with the original project Jim Love’s video production wing of I.T. World of Canada Digital Reno is based at the incubatorand the whole crew is based in Haliburton.
The sound engineer who was originally from St. Catharines was encouraged to move here last autumn because of the opportunity presented by the hosts.
“I love the Haliburton angle. I love the fact the people feel proud of it. We feel proud of it” he said.
He adds this TSN agreement makes original investors HCDC look good for believing in them from the beginning.
He hopes lots of people will want to see him and Greer do “goofy things.”
The show isn’t about fame or fortune. It’s about sharing and showing the world one golf course and its host community at a time.
Teljeur appreciates how welcoming and generous people are with their time and opening up their communities to them.
Teljeur wants the show to be the motivator for others to get out and have their own experience.
“The main criteria of our show is we never want to go or do anything that our viewers couldn’t do as well” he said.
“So we’ll never visit a golf course that’s private we’ll never go to a place that is inaccessible to people or very selective. Our hope is when people watch this show [they say] hey you know what? Let’s go down to Texas to do the course they did or whatever. We’re just opening up a menu they get to eat.”
