Thursday, December 13, 2007 Chiongbian: CCC’s jungolf rivalry By Edgar R. Chiongbian Teetime
THE Cebu Country Club jungolf alumni rivalry, already on its 4th year, continues its hype with grueling grudge matches to own the bragging rights as the best jungolf team in the country. The rivalry started when jungolf alumni got talking and the 1990s alumni challenged the 1980s alumni to a match.
Well, after three years of losing to the ’90s team, the ’80s team was no longer amused about being beaten by the younger hackers every year and it turned into a grudge match. Last year, Jonji Chiongbian couldn’t or wouldn’t talk about the matches after a very close final, because he knew their ’80s team did not lose the annual challenge on skills but in the strategy department.
The ’90s team had predicted another big win and had nice plans on how to celebrate it. They prepared a special promo glitz and media hype to include a billboard group photo in Banilad, and an invitation for RCTV and radio jockeys to attend the awarding dinner. The ’90s team even had “Tiger red” uniforms just for the Sunday awards party.
The ’80s team said no to that, not this time baby! This year will be different, according to Jonji, because they will make sure not to get outwitted again in the pairings by the ’90s team. And team captain Iker Aboitiz had a plan.
Finally last weekend, the ’80s took the crown for the first time win over the ’90s; hip, hip, hurrah. The margin of two sweet points erased all the pain in the past. Two critical singles final day matches came from the ’80s Toby Florendo’s challenge to the untarnished and undefeated record of the ’90s Raymond Garcia.
The second match was of the ’90s helmsman, Jovi Neri, who according to our sources, predicted a sure win since he is the only one who can easily beat CCC club champion Eric Deen. And these two wins by the ’80s became the deciding factor and the margin that pushed the ’80s over the already feasting ’90s team. This time it’s Jovi’s turn for silence. As the plot thickens, we’ll see what’s up next year.
What is the real attraction in the Alta Vista Christmas Fun Golf tournament? Is it the Bolle sunglass worth thousands? I bought my first Bolle sunglasses in 1983 and it cost me $45 so I guess the price has gone up.
The friends of Alta president Oly Dichangco will sing in unison that the future of Alta is so bright we gotta wear shades. But can you imagine if everyone wears the giveaway shades during the tournament? Alta Vista will look like a golf tournament for the blind, and wouldn’t that be a sight to see. Hahaha.
The CCC Bad Boys are good boys again. Once a year, the bad-turns-to-good and host the Christmas Charity Fun golf tournament at Cebu Country Club to benefit ERUF, TSU CHI Foundation and Mother Teresa’s Missionary of Charity in Pasil. The bad-good boys have raised a lot of serious money for them. The seventh edition of the tournament tees off tomorrow.
Don’t forget next week is the “hey Senyor” Christmas golf tournament of the Federation of Senior golfers at Alta Vista. Federation chairman Bombi Aznar and Alta senior’s chapter president Rolly Santos will make sure you have fun. The golf course will be very friendly with tee markers moved all the way to the front.
There’s a great new Chef in Shangrilla Mactan. He is Marc Martinez and he put up a wonderful meal for us that was out of this world. Check out the Acqua restaurant for your own unforgettable experience. I will be on an extended vacation for the holidays so see you in a month.
GOLF TIP.Many players blame pulled putts as a breakdown of the left wrist but mostly it is due to a misalignment of the shoulders. In a standard grip, the right hand is below the left hand on the putter so your right shoulder is closer to the ball and that tends to point the shoulders left of target. The rocking of the shoulders during the putt will create an out-to-in path, thus a pull.
The answer to this is to position the hands closer together by overlapping two fingers instead of only one. In your address, align the shoulders so they’re square to the target and movement of your arms and shoulders will produce a stroke that follows the target line back and through.
