A20 COMMENTARIES / SPORTS PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY November 16 - 30 , 2016
Spectator
By Al S . Mendoza
WHILE I prepare myself to sit at the presidential table ( Wednesday , November 23 ) at the Fil-Am Invitational Golf Captains ’ Meeting in Baguio City ’ s Camp John Hay ( Jake P . Ayson and I will again humbly handle the Rules Committee ), my mind mocks the demons whirling by every now and then since last Saturday yet . Some questions . How come we had ended up that bad in the justconcluded Asia-Pacific Senior Amateur Golf Championship at Alabang in Muntinglupa City ?
Surely , it was annihilation at Alabang !
Whatever happened to our usually revered senior par-busters that we had to finish the tournament way off the standings ?
Whatever happened to that time-revered course familiarity , an advantage that we never had even a semblance of during the entirety of the tournament ?
And we were champs in 2007 , when we had it held in Mt . Malarayat in Lipa City .
We ’ ve never been this low since .
Sixth-place overall was bad enough .
And if finishing sixth is as ludicrous as seeing Trump dump Hillary , how about this ? We wound up 69 strokes behind champion Australia .
Why , I ’ ve never seen us trail by that much in any golf tournament in the world . And while that number
SIX Filipinos , including a Fil-Am , set out for the tough LPGA Qualifying Tournament Final Stage starting Wednesday ( Thursday in Manila ) at the LPGA International in Florida , a 90- hole tournament among 157 players slugging it out for 20 LPGA Tour cards next year .
Cyna Rodriguez , who failed to keep her card after a so-so rookie campaign this year , is chasing one of the slots along with Symetra Tour veterans Dottie Ardina and Mia Piccio , Fil-Am Clariss Guce , amateur Regina de Guzman and former US Girls ’ Junior champion Princess Superal .
This marks the first time the Philippines is fielding a six-player roster in the Final
has always been highly regarded for its elixir component , it seems our misdeed has brought dishonor to it .
That deprecating difference marking our insulting defeat to Australia even sullied the essentialness of 69 , a fixture in the numbers game among lovers .
And what ’ s this I hear that Eddie Bagtas , one of the country ’ s top amateur senior golfers , was kicked out of the team ?
Politics reared its ugly head again at the National Golf Association of the Philippines ( NGAP )?
My God ! He would have made a difference . I know Bagtas . He is good . And he could inspire .
I was told Bagtas had requested this : As the reigning national champion , could he be exempted from the tryouts , please ? The NGAP refused . Bagtas withdrew . The NGAP held two tryouts at Lipa City ’ s Mt . Malarayat and Summit Point , seeding players who could score a 76 or better in every round .
Only one player managed a 76 .
The NGAP , swallowing its pride , went back to Bagtas to convince him to join the team .
Bagtas , still hurting from the snub , refused .
“ I tried to talk Bagtas into reconsidering , but he stood his ground ,” said Atty . Louie Sison , Eddie ’ s good
Senior golfers suffer worst beating of all time
friend . “ I couldn ’ t impose my emotional reasons on him .”
One more player who could have helped our team finish well was Tommy Manotoc , the multi-titled living legend .
But he also withdrew , just days after he fared extremely well in a Hong Kong tournament , winding up just two strokes behind the winner .
And may I also ask : Why were the tryouts held in Lipa ’ s two courses ? Why not in Alabang , the actual arena of battle ?
Indeed , it happens all the time : A flawed preparation is the best formula for failure . * * * * * * Fil-Am Invitational Golf in Baguio
THE Team Captains ’ Meeting on November 23 will officially kick off action in the Fil-Am Invitational Golf Championship in Baguio City ’ s Camp John Hay and Baguio Country Club .
Hundreds of golfers from around the world , with several teams coming from Vancouver and Toronto , converge again for more than two weeks almost . No less than seven divisional honors in both seniors and men ’ s regular events are up for grabs in the world ’ s biggest golfing competition , participantswise , ending December 10 .
Not only is prestige and the joy of winning trophies are at stake but lucrative prizes as well , which are traditionally given away in usual glittering awarding ceremonies for both
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divisions .
No other tournament of its kind hereabouts — or perhaps anywhere in the world — can match the hugeness of this doublebarreled edition year in and year out for the last 66 years .
For one , participants here are selected on the basis of their moral fitness since not everyone wishing to join can just walk in , register and be admitted .
For another , scrutinizing of handicaps are fool-proof . One player found tampering with his index handicap may cause the disqualification of his entire team .
By the very nature on which the fathers of the tournament had envisioned the Fil-Am , the event is by invitation only . Thus , that makes the Fil-Am Invitational one of the most unique golf events in world history .
The only other tournament I know that also invites its participants is the US Masters , where even its defending champion needs to be invited to be able to defend his crown .
I should know . I covered the 1991 Masters won by Ian Woosnam when he banged home an eight-foot putt to win by one .
After Woosnam ’ s winning putt , Frankie Minoza , seated beside me in front of the TV in our rented house in Augusta , Georgia , exclaimed : “ Woosnam is now my new idol !”
Minoza , who is still very much around and only the
6 Pinays in hunt for LPGA Tour cards
Stage but with only 20 Tour cards up for grabs they must dish out a solid game from Day 1 to Day 5 .
“ They ’ re all ready and in high spirits but with a big field and a slew of talented players , they would need a strong start and hope to sustain it all the way to the finish ,” said Bong Lopez , coach of former The Country Club mainstays Rodriguez , Ardina , Piccio and Superal , who also handled two-time LPGA Tour winner Jennifer Rosales .
The field will alternate over the first four rounds between the Jones and Hills courses with the top 70 after 72 holes advancing to the final round , to be played at the tougher Hills layout .
The top 20 , excluding ties , will earn the coveted LPGA Tour status in Category 12 on the 2017 priority list while those that finish 21 through 45 , including ties , will earn status in Category 17 . Players who complete 72 holes but fail to earn LPGA Tour status will receive Symetra Tour status in Category E on the Symetra Tour priority list .
The low medalist will also earn $ 5,000 .
Among the Pinay hopefuls , De Guzman is going into the Final Stage brimming with confidence , having won her second to last tournament – the National Women ’ s Golf Association – in Daytona Beach , Florida two weeks ago where she beat Thai Prima Thammaraks in the playoff .
Guce has also won two tournaments in the Symetra Tour this year to finish at No . 11 in the ranking while Ardina wound up at No . 21 .
Rodriguez will start at 8:55 a . m . on No . 1 with Texas ’ Shannon Fish and Camilla Lennarth of Sweden ; Ardina is grouped with Jaclyn Jansen of Illinois and Thammaraks at 8:55 a . m . on No . 10 ; Piccio drew American Angel Yin and England ’ s Sally Watson at 9:17 a . m ., also on No . 10 ; Guce will tee off at 8:33 a . m . on No . 10 with Kendall Dye of Oklahoma and Taiwanese
third Filipino to be invited to the Masters after Ben Arda and Luis Silverio ( may their souls rest in peace ), missed the midway cut after rounds of 76-74 — his 150 tying Greg Norman ’ s output .
So there . The Baguio Fil-Am has one precious commonality with the Masters in Georgia : Their tournaments are by-invitation only . The winners there doesn ’ t even guarantee them an automatic return . Huge .
As Anthony de Leon , the always-dapper BGC GM once told me : “ We adhere always to our time-honored tradition ,
Sir . That has always been the benchmark of the Fil-Am Invitational .”
It is also worth noting that the Fil-Am Invitational this year is staking two Toyota cars , one in the Seniors Division from Nov . 24 to Dec . 1 and another in the Men ’ s Regular from Dec . 5-10 .
This marks the first time in 67 years that two cars-- from Toyota itself--are being staked as hole-in-one prizes .
This was made possible through the generosity of Toyota Motor Philippines ( TMP ) upon the intercession of TMP Vice President Sherwin Chua-Lim and through the green light of course of Satoru Suzuki , the amiable TMP president .
“ Cheers to you all , nice fellas from Toyota ,” said Atty . Rico Agcaoili , the jolly chairman of Baguio Country Club .
Dottie-Ardina ( right ) and Cyna-Rodriguez
Ssu Chia Cheng ;
De Guzman will play alongside Amber Hensley of the US and fellow amateur Wanasa Zhou of Australia ; while Superal kicks off her campaign at 9:50 a . m . with Hungarian Csicsi Rozsa and local ace Vicky Hurst on No . 10 . ( Malaya )