Thursday, January 25, 2007 Chiongbian: A roadside problem By Edgar R. Chiongbian Teetime
THE Summit, Coral Tee and Sinulog are over but the traffic remains. Doesn’t that tell you that there is a problem with the way we do things? I had a very strange but typical experience trying to go through the streets of Ayala after the big fireworks display last Sunday night. Everyone was trying to leave so the traffic flow was almost one way going out of Ayala.
A few cars were, like me, going the other way trying to cross Ayala. I was the lead car and couldn’t pass because there was this guy with his window open who was leisurely listening to his radio and was the only car parked on the right side. I asked him why he was parked there because we couldn’t pass since he was blocking our way.
He said that’s too bad because there isn’t a “No Parking Sign” so it was okay for him to be there and wouldn’t move. We waited patiently for 15 minutes until we were able to pass him by fighting with the oncoming traffic. Because of him the roadway became a three lane one-way street out of Ayala. Wish I had a firecracker to throw inside his car because it would have been nice to see his butt running without his car.
Are we ever surprised anymore when people stop at the “no stopping” area, NO. How about people parking in the “no parking” zone? That’s another fat NO. How about people make left turns in a “no left turn”? Does anybody really care? We all should!
Congratulations to the winners of the 26th Coral Tee of Cebu Country Club.
The team of Alex Garcia and Felix Villanueva took the overall championship with 83/85 performance for the two days. Alex Garcia is a very unassuming fellow. You can’t tell if he was winning or losing. In fact the only reason you know he plays serious golf is because he has the same tan line as those who play a lot of golf.
At 1st runner up was the team of Boy Limkakeng and Dan Villanueva. This is the first time on many tries this duo got into the Calcutta and right away they took 2nd place honors and a big sigh of “at last we finally made it.” At 2nd runner up was last year’s champion, Jonji Chiongbian and Mike Celdran. My team missed these guys by only 2 points. Better luck next time.
Senior’s Champion was the team of Joseph Yukayguan and A. Kushariadi. 1st runner up went to the very proficient golfer Jun Larrazabal and Ed Enriquez, and at 2nd runner up were super senior Claro Cinco and Roberto Pangan.
The first day winners were Arturo Go/Jimmy Cham, Emmy Tesalona/ Dante Felizarta and Enrique Farrarons/Freddie Salimbangon. The second day winners to Vince Colina/Bobby Barria, Jufil Sato/Ed So and Gilbert Yap/Jun Suan. Overall low gross went to the team of Mark Dy and Fernando Mondares with a 68/66 gross score.
Not to be left out, the CCC ladies chapter also had a Sinulog mixed doubles golf tournament using the alternating shot format. The champion was the Eva Hino and Mabu Kobayashi. At 1st runner up were Flor and Hernan Streegan, 2nd runner up went to Gloria Alazas and Eric Deen, and 3rd runner up to the team of Rosita Uy and Hisao Sone.
I received an e-mail from a member who has something to say about the caddie situation. He claims that he has played a round of golf without a caddy and practiced without a ball boy. On one occasion, he came in about 2:30 p.m. and there were no more caddies/ball boys available, and was reprimanded for coming to the club at that time.
His question is why keep the course open, at that time when the club can no longer provide caddy/ball boy services? He feels that it’s very basic to have the caddie services available when the golf course is open, and said, “I’m not asking for the moon!!!”
Golf Tip: On iron shots, place the ball a little forward in your stance and your hands set ahead of it. If the ball is too close to your right heel, it will force your hands far ahead and produce a very steep backswing that can cause you to hit it fat.
Make a slightly upright backswing and come down into the ball sharply without slamming into the ground behind the ball. The club should strike the ball first, and then shave a thin slice of grass.
The transition from the backswing to the downswing is when you should feel your left hip turning to your left side and your weight shifting to the heel of the left foot. The arms will swing the club down along the target line and into impact. If you start the downswing by pushing your legs toward the target, the club is certain to hit the ground behind the ball.
