Thursday, January 15, 2009 Chiongbian: Most popular ‘tee’ outside Manila By Edgar R. Chiongbian Teetime
PIT Senyor and viva, viva Santo Niño to you all! It is week of celebration for our beloved infant Jesus. Tomorrow at dawn is the special procession of the Virgin of Guadalupe to the Basilica for the mother and child reunion.
On Saturday will be the most challenging event to attend, the fluvial parade on the Cebu-Mactan channel. And of course the parade on Sunday. What a great religious tradition we have here in Cebu.
And alongside with Sinulog, for 28 years now, the Coral Invitational Golf tournament at Cebu Country Club has been part of this celebration. The Coral Tee, for short, is an important schedule for golfing enthusiasts locally, nationally and internationally; especially for some Cebuanos who make this a two-for-one trip to Cebu.
Yesterday was the first of the four-day Coral Tee tournament. Today another set of players will tee off to take their shot at the 36-hole tournament.
Leading yesterday’s rainy day at press time was the team of Evans Tumaliwan and Gerry Quintos with 84 points. Tied for second with identical 82 points were the teams of Ruben Almendras and L. Saberon and Benson Chua and Al Parsons.
The plan for the tournament is simple; just grab the overall championship or take the top ranking as team champion for the first or second day. There’s no chamba in the Coral Tee. Either you have it or you don’t. This means you must be able to beat your handicap by six strokes or must have a nice and fat handicap to do so.
The rest of the mortals will be contented with winning only in the raffles, especially the major ones, which is worth a whole year of golf tournaments.
Then there’s the hole-in-one, where luck is the key and talent is the medium that gives one a small edge over others. And the grand daddy is the pay raffle that can be the most rewarding but you have to ante up and double down to play.
Now for a small trivia. What is the most desired situation to be in but is also the most undesirable position to be in, in the Coral Tee tournament? I am sure if you have been on this spot before, you will give the answer outright, unless you are having a seniors’ moment. Answer below.
The Coral Tee is the most popular “tee” tournament outside Metro Manila with a sizable guest list from Manila, Visayas, Mindanao and stateside America. Having club members team up with guests gives incredible fellowship, lasting friendships and goodwill to the games.
While some seek new partners in search of best results, it never comes because there is no partnership made in heaven, only a partnership of heavenly handicaps. That is why it always rains during Coral and View Tees because the heaven knows the truth and is crying.
The answer to our trivia is, the Calcutta. Teams can win a nice chunk of cash so that’s why it’s the most desirable. It’s the most undesirable because you must win or lose face with your good friends who are banking on you to win and have put a sizeable sum to support your cause. You have dragged them into the fray and must now “put up or shut up”, and if you lose, you have to find a good hiding place to nest for a while.
The problem is that it is not too difficult to get in the Calcutta because roughly 25 teams from the top will qualify for the 17-hole run-off. So you can easily be in for a big surprise and a tension-filled second day. If you have a chance in winning, the Calcutta could be the one to break the camel’s back.
GOLF TIP. Firming up your swing and having a wider swing width will give you consistent pitching. This can be done with just using your left arm. The main reason for widening your swing width is to get more power in your normal full swing but this is also very helpful and important in pitching.
Swing width comes from keeping the arm firm throughout the swing. When the left arm breaks down, your swing arc narrows and changes the path of the clubhead,
causing inconsistent contact. The left arm is the key to maintaining the swing arc to keep your swing along the same path every time or repeats the swing you practiced just before the shot.
