FIRST SHOT
Message from the CSGA Executive Director - Mike Moraghan
A Great Golf Adventure
T he pageantry surrounding the 1996 World Amateur Team Championship was spectacular . Trumpeters , dancers , honor guards in dress uniforms , flags , banners , and dignitaries from around the world highlighted the opening ceremony in one of Manila ’ s most cavernous arenas .
Forty-seven countries , each represented by their four most accomplished golfers converged upon the Philippines for what was then considered the “ The Olympics of Golf .”
Representing her home country as honorary chairperson was Maria Margarita Roxas Moran- Fiorendo , the former Miss Universe known to all as Margie Moran . A booming timpani drumroll heralded her arrival , and time seemed to slow as Ms . Moran approached the podium to proclaim her welcome . Miss Universe had , to say the least , a commanding presence .
It was November . Our fall schedule was complete , we were officially in our off-season , and with two of my University of Virginia players representing their respective countries there was an opportunity to help them on a stage much bigger than college and the NCAA . And with close to a quarter of the field comprised of teenagers who had not yet finished high school , there was also some serious recruiting to be done .
My players , Lewis Chitengwa of Zimbabwe and Andrea Brotto of Italy had mentioned a 16 year-old Spaniard worth following . A kid named Sergio Garcia , who Andrea described as “ a nice boy and a phenomenal talent .” I added Sergio to the list , and took note of his starting times .
Through a feast of a dinner I sat alternately with both the Italian and Zimbabwean delegations , sized up the recruits upon whom I would focus my efforts , and occasionally stole a glance at Margie
Moran . ***
The morning after the opening ceremony and the day of the first practice round , I walked out of the Holiday Inn Manila with Zimbabwe Golf Federation directors Pat Farrell and Stuart MacLeod .
Pat was on my immediate right and to his right walked Stuart . We planned a brief exploration of the city to kill some time before catching the bus for the golf course .
We had only gone about fifty yards when three assailants attacked us . Three of us , and three of them , and we were completely unprepared .
The first attacker was grinning through a mouth full of rotten teeth and half laughing , half singing some incomprehensible gibberish as he struck me in the left arm .
His weapon was a rolled up newspaper , which he quickly unrolled and then re-rolled before whacking me again .
His hands moved quickly as he unfurled the rag a second time and pointed to something on the front page , laughing and shouting and shoving the crumpled newsprint closer to my face .
He was the biggest of the three children , about half my size .
The other two , maybe eight year-olds , danced around us in a tight circle , singing and humming like little bees flying around a nest before landing .
Pat and Stuart were protesting , “ No , no thank you !” and all three of us were waving our
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