Wednesday, January 23, 2008 Sabaldan: Circle of Friendship By Romy Sabaldan Davao Beat
FOR most of Davao City's fun loving golfers, the 2nd Sportsman's Golf Tournament is just a staging ground for the next PAL Interclub, the country's biggest golf tournament that will have the charming city of Bacolod as this year's venue.
Being the closest tournament to be staged on February 9 and 10, 2008 at the Davao City Golf Club or barely two weeks before the unfolding international golfing holiday in February, the tournament serves as a "warm up" for the Davao players, according to tournament director Gogo Alba.
The Davao City teams may not be the best delegation in a tournament that has been ruled several times by delegations from the National Capital Region (NCR) but they will surely put up a good fight and definitely add more glamour to the biggest gathering of golfers in the country.
The successful staging of the local Sportsman's golf tournament last year has made the players yearn for another round of the 18-hole golf event at the Davao City Golf Club, one of the four clubs in the city that will send teams in both seniors and the regular PAL Interclub next month, said Alba, who is also a member of the Board of Directors of the organizing group the Sports Communicators Organization of the Philippines (Scoop-Davao).
Not only that, the tournament also charges a very minimal fee of P700 per player as registration fee. Not bad for a tournament that gives away raffle prizes worth P5,000 for individual winners, Alba added.
He said that "even if we have raised the registration fee by a hundred bucks compared to last year's P600, still the amount is very low compared to the P5,000 that we charge in the previous golf-for-a-cause tournament that carries the name of the main benefactor Lucho Singh." Alba made the statement during the post-Christmas party of Scoop-Davao at the Pepper and Peppers at Jacinto Street, Davao City.
This year's 2nd Sportsman's Golf Tournament is bigger and better with about 150 to 160 players not only from Davao City but also among the neighboring golf-playing cities like General Santos, Cotabato, and other provinces.
Expected among the Class A players that will be contesting for top honors this year include Jing-jing Gavino, Paul Larrabaster, Joel Yamyamin, Larry Pasquil and the affable "Gob" Manny Pinol.
The Sportsman's Golf Tournament is the only sports media organized golf event in Mindanao and will hopefully earn the distinction as a PAL Interclub preliminary tournament considering the proximity and timing of its staging twice in a roe.
The man behind this development is Alba himself, the consummate golf player during the 70s and 80s.
Fairway Beat: This is what I call "Circle of Friendship" -- Joe Beck (Callaway Golf)
