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Sunday, June 18, 2006
Chiongbian: A tribute to a golfing princess
By Edgar R. Chiongbian
Teetime
In a few weeks, this charming 16-year-old girl who barely stands five feet will leave Cebu’s fairways and greens to pursue her college education in America. But she has already left a permanent mark in our golfing scene. I take great honor in having been given this space to pay tribute to Kathleen Paz Uy – our golfing princess.
In November 2003, Kathleen was on the cover of Sun.Star Weekend as one of Cebu’s most promising young golfers after having won her second Girls Club Championship and the Class B title in the Wagap Luzvimin that same year. In 2004, she bagged her third Girls title and won the inaugural CCC Junior Open.
THE YEAR OF KATHLEEN. Two-thousand five was the year she really burst into the golf scene. In March, she became the first junior in over a decade to win the Ladies Club Championship. In May, she shot in the 70s twice from the back tees of the tricky Marapara golf course en route to the Girls A trophy in the Negros Southern Challenge.
Later that month, she made history as the first girl to win the Junior Club Championship. Playing from the back tees against Franz Olea, a boy bigger and taller, she took a commanding 5-up lead after nine holes after playing it in even par. Then she never looked back and won in style.
In July, she played the Junior World Golf Championships held at the Torrey Pines Golf Course, which also hosts the PGA Tour’s Buick Open. Her opening day featured a blistering 3-under par on the back nine. She finished as the best-placed Filipino entry in her division.
Under tremendous media coverage and the hopes of an entire club resting on her young shoulders, she steered CCC’s Ladies team to the first day lead in the Wagap Luzvimin held in August. After the smoke had cleared, she had finished fourth individually and led her team to a best-ever third-place finish.
She also had other notable performances in 2005: Two runner-up finishes in junior tournaments in California, a semifinal appearance in the National Tournament of Club Champions, and a win in a national tournament in Alta Vista.
This year turned out to be no different from the last. She made her first hole-in-one in February. Then she won the Ladies Club Championship for the second time in March, earning her a slot in the National Tournament of Club Champions held in Eagle Ridge where she made the semifinals again.
She capped off the summer season by winning Player of the Year honors in the VisMin Youth Golf Circuit. She won in all the three legs: Del Monte, Bacolod, and Cebu. She was the only player in any class or gender to have all six rounds spread over three legs in the 70s. Her aggregate was the lowest among all the Players of the Year.
Even though she did not hit the ball a mile, she made up for it with her pinpoint accuracy, short-game wizardry and the strongest will to win I have ever seen in any junior. She demonstrated time and time again that size and gender limitations are not barriers to golfing excellence.
Kathleen was one of the main reasons why my job as jungolf chairman became very worthwhile and fulfilling. It is with a heavy heart and a deep sense of loss that I have to bid farewell to a princess who has brought the most inspiration and pride to this job more than anyone else. But I am certain that the values she learned in jungolf will be tremendous assets in pursuing her future endeavors.
Kathleen, you will be greatly missed by the Cebu golfing community, especially your jungolf friends. We thank you for the great memories. Good luck on your new journey and may God always keep you blessed along the way.
(Edgar R. Chionbian yields this column today to Joven G. Neri, Cebu Country Club Jungolf chairman.)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 18, 2006 issue)
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