Chiongbian: Davis's honesty shows why golf is special

THIS WEEK, all roads lead to the island on the other side of the bridge for the Kadaugan sa Mactan Festival. This event is just two years old and is already showing a lot of promise as a major event in Metro Cebu. The number one event, of course, is the Sinulog. I know this event is for sports tourism but I believe what will make it a big "showcase event" is a parade, with floats like that in the Sinulog. A parade around the beach resorts, finishing at Lapu-Lapu City can be a nice touch for tourism. After all, the high noon killing of Magellan is getting old (How many times can Lapu-Lapu kill Magellan?)

Click here for Election 2010 updates

And the best step was making the very successful Island Tee of MIGC move their annual signature member-guest golf tournament from November to April to anchor the festival of sports. The Island Tee is now on its 10th edition and today is the second day of the tournament, which runs until Sunday so you can still sign up and make the required two days of play. Member-guest golf tournaments are the biggest annual draw for every golf club in the country.

The tournament will be using the modified Stableford, full handicap, with winners in lowest gross, A, B, C, D and Senior divisions. Hole-in-one prizes are: KIA car, Norkis Yamaha motorcycle, set of Honma irons from Eagle Port Pro shop.

Awarding dinner will be at the Waterfront Pagcor Mactan on Sunday.

What makes Mactan Island GC special is their continuing effort to improve the golf course under the direction of one man. What makes general manager Rodante Joya spectacular is that he is totally driven into making Mactan a top notch golf course despite the absence of a real budget. But what he's not short of is the dedication, hard work and initiative to get the job done.

Ergo, there is no denying what he has accomplished to bring this golf course to a level that no one could have imagined.

GOLF AND MARRIAGE. Did you know that marriage and being the No. 1 player in the world is dangerous to the careers of lady pro golfers? Lorena Ochoa, the No. 1 player in ladies golf for three years is announcing her retirement today. Ochoa, who is 28 years old, got married last December to Andre Conesa, CEO of Aeromexico Airline.

Before Ochoa, the No. 1 golfer was Annika Sorenstam, who also called it quits after she got married last year. Sorenstam had a baby girl last September and I guess Ochoa is now following her footsteps and is not too far behind. Maybe she is already, ahem.

I received an e-mail from Simon Walton, who brought to my attention the biggest topic in golfing America today, concerning an incident in last week's Verizon Heritage golf tournament.

It was during the first hole of the sudden death play-off with Jim Furyk when the Englishman Brian Davis went in the hazard.

Davis thought when he made his swing, he may have disturbed a stray reed in the hazard; so, he alerted a rules official on the possibility that he may be liable to a 2-stroke penalty. The official, of course, said yes without seeing it because of his confession. There was no guarantee that Davis would have won over Furyk from that position but he reacted so quickly and without hesitation that it surprised everyone who did not notice anything wrong.

It is this honesty that has caused a buzz in the US and on how a person can be so honorable in calling the penalty on himself.

This is a very special trait that is expected in our gentleman's game of golf that no other sport has. This has set an example that most of us struggle with, every time we play golf.

Davis said, "They're the rules and you have to live by them... it's one of those things, it's what you do, it's what makes our sport so special."

Davis added, "I had a text message from a senior golfer who once called a penalty on himself in a tournament against Jack Nicklaus. He said 'I know you are down and didn't win, but trust me it'll be the best thing you ever did.'"

(erchiongbian@gmail.com)