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Thursday, April 15, 2004
Chiongbian: Reminiscing Edcels and Phil’s meekness
By Edgar R. Chiongbian
Tee time
PHIL Mickelson finally got rid of that monkey on his back by winning the elusive major. It is only fitting that it would be the Masters, the most prestigious and in my book, the hardest major to win. After so many tries, I’d say this was most deserving win for Phil.
What are behind the scenes are the efforts of the Hootie Johnson and his organization at Augusta National, who had the foresight to upgrade the golf course to meet the standards of the new breed of today’s golfers. As a result they provided us with the most thrilling competition by the fittest of players challenging the golf course, shooting eagles and birdies like they were in a shooting gallery.
Watching Phil Mickelson playing the final nine holes showed how much he has changed from the careless “shoot-em-up” player to a more mature and seasoned golfer. I remember Phil at the time when he was still a student at Arizona State University (ASU) where he and his fellow students/golfers would come to our nightclub (Edcels Attic) located right next to ASU.
Our club was one of the hottest college bars in Tempe and was only two blocks away from the 55,000-capacity Sun Devil football stadium and about two par 5’s away from two baseball stadiums. Because of this our club was also frequented by sports personalities in the pro ranks of the NBA, NFL and American Baseball league.
Phil was already an amateur champion then but without any airs, like how you see him on TV. I remember on one occasion, Phil came to Edcels with fellow student-golfer Chris Dimarco. I am sure that having them paired together at the leaders slot on the final day of the Masters was very comfortable for both guys and most likely helped Phil win the Masters, especially that last birdie putt on the 18th green.
If you don’t believe what I’m saying about our club, just ask Manolet Heredia because he too was an ASU Sun Devil fan and lived just across from our Club. Mano was then a newly married man and would come in with his lovely wife Let-Let to listen to some of our bands playing.
In the Masters, you know there were two hole-in-ones on the same hole, only minutes apart right?
This is very rare even on any golf course. But there was one time when two hole-in-ones were made only seconds apart by two golfers playing together. This happened in 1960 at the Nabnasset Lake Country Club in Massachusetts. The irony of that situation though was the second hole-in-one did not count because it bounced back out of the cup upon hitting the ball that was just driven there seconds earlier by his flight mate.
Anyway as Mickelson was winning the Masters in Georgia, my partner Cely C and I were also winning the championship in the Hit and Giggle golf tournament at CCC. We won via count back over another couple, Wendell and Gina Yap, who settled for the first runner-up spot. At second runner-up were Gloria Alazas and Charles Hong and at third runner-up were Jyra Wong and Jovi Neri. This tournament proved that a husband and wife partnership can be a good thing.
Congratulations to the 4 clubs champions: Gabriel Yap Jr., Jimmy Sy, John P. Young and Ben Gonzalez. Runner-up winners: Class A – Charles Hong, Victor Yuvallos, Ben Dapat; Class B – Collin Go, Eddie Ong, Max Tan; Class C – Billy Tan, Fred Agor and Jason Yu; Class D – Derek Go, Mike Mancao and Ruben Almendras. Except for the very low scores of JPY and BG, the rest of the scores showed how hard it is to play with just four clubs.
GOLF TIP: The impulse to swing hard is very common when you need to hit a long drive. And the consequence is that your rhythm is affected and solid contact becomes less likely causing a much shorter distance than your usual drive.
Instead of swinging hard, make a slow, full backswing and think of a smooth motion from the top as you start down. Your weight should shift to your left leg while your torso and arms stay stretched back, ready to sling the clubhead through the ball.
The main idea is to hold or maintain the body coil created on the backswing for as long as possible on the downswing to get that power you are looking for.
(erc@skyinet.net)
(April 15, 2004 issue)
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