|
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Chiongbian: Going for big prizes at CCC’s Coral Tee
By Edgar R. Chiongbian
Tee time
The 23rd Coral Tee Invitational golf tournament at Cebu Country Club is off and running. Today the second set of players will go for the chance as first- round winners of the 36-hole tournament.
The ultimate goal, of course is to bag the overall championship but the better plan is to get a hole-in-one, which means going home with a Ford Ranger. If you pick the right hole, a P100, 000 bonus is part of your bounty that can go towards plenty of gas and yet another is a set of Taylor Made irons for your game.
If you are a betting man, there’s a raffle that can still get you the Ford Ranger without skills involved. The best way to exemplify our point is to quote the most used phrase in golf: “I’d rather be lucky than good”. So for now, I’ll say good luck but at the end of the tournament; I’m sure it will be, better luck next time, partner!
The Coral Tee is the best-known “Tee” tournament outside of Metro Manila with a sizeable guest list from Manila, Visayas, Mindanao and abroad. The thing about all “Tee” tournaments in the Philippines is that they are as pure as an invitational tournament could ever be.
Having club members’ team up with guests really brings in goodwill to the games, build new and lasting friendships that may not otherwise get filled. While some change partners every year, there are those who have kept the same ones for years now.
Uwe Seeliger from Germany comes every year to partner with Alvin Alazas. This year we are missing Ben Paca, who comes yearly from Chicago to partner with Orly Israel, who ended up with Boboy Durano this time. Davis Chan, Boy Limkakeng and myself are partnered with Tab Katigbak, Dan Villanueva and Omar Cruz from Valley, Alabang and Orchard.
The group of Douglas Luym, Danny Dean, Louie Aboitiz, Hannah Palanca, et al., bring in their usual partners and the big honchos from Manila Golf; Chito Recto, Mark Roces, George Neri, Charles Irelend, Rudy Cuenta, Raddy Tojino, Manoling and Martin Chan, Tony Riviera and Roy Chiongbian.
Worth mentioning is the big rivalry between Capt. Boy Oppus and Ben Ebrada. Every year they duel it out for the top spot in the Super Senior of the CCC Club Championship. Boy has won twice with Ben as runner-up. This year at Coral Tee, they have become partners.
And the story begins with Boy Oppus changing his official golfing grounds to Club Filipino, which made Ben very grateful. So knowing that he will not compete this year for the Club Championship, Ben picked Boy as partner.
Boy, howeve,r says that his absence is no guarantee for Ben because he was the one who knocked off the strong contenders. Now we can say that they have found a common ground and on ground Zero with this partnership.
Speaking of camaraderie and friendship, do you know how tight the jungolf players of CCC are? It’s the tops! These little guys are so bonded together that they actually look for each other even with the jungolf program being over. They hang out at the club just for a chance to see one another.
Bayani Garcia, a jungolfer studying in Arizona State University, was in Cebu for the holidays. He made it known how he feels for these guys. When he turned 18 this month, all he wanted was a birthday party (debut?) for his fellow jungolfers.
So he asked his parents to invite only the jungolfers to their house. Having the privilege along with some jungolf den parents, I witnessed this wonderful bonding of kids with various ages in perfect harmony. I asked everyone why this so and they all unanimously gave the credit to Jovi Neri, their jungolf chairman of CCC. That’s a big 10-4, good buddy.
GOLF TIP: Try the body pitch because control is more important than power in the short game. Inconsistent wrist action, too much or too little hinge changes the loft of the club at impact with shots flying well past the pin or way short.
Maintain consistent loft by controlling the swing with the body pivot. The hands and wrists should go along for the ride and not lead the motion. Focus on turning your body back and thru, while keeping your hands in front of your chest throughout.
(erc@skyinet.net)
(January 15, 2004 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
[ return
to top ]
[ home
]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
