Sunday, June 29, 2008 The Elsie Golf By Marianne L. Saberon-Abalayan
I WAS really puzzled when I received a text message from my editor-in-chief, Stella A. Estremera, to feature the Elsie Golf Tournament.
I haven't heard of it in the first place. I just thought maybe it's a one-time golf-for-a-cause event or, maybe, just a low-profile gathering of players who wanted a good time at the Apo Golf and Country Club.
I e-mailed David Hodges, whose address was forwarded to me by Ma'am Stella, at once. I sure wanted to know what this Elsie Golf is all about. How come I haven't known of its existence for almost 10 years in sports writing. Arrrgh!
It just took Mr. Hodges one day to reply to my e-mail. He said he'll provide me what I need. He sent me the materials a few days later.
Mr. Hodges, who hails from England, started "The Elsie" in 1997 as a venue for a social expatriate golf society in Manila to play on beautiful golf courses around the country.
He had been to various golfing competitions since 1996 where the PAL Inter-Club was held in Bacolod City. The first Elsie Golf was then played in the City of Smiles.
"We named it after my mother, Elside Hodges, just to give the tournament a name. The objective was to get a group of expat golfers, called The Gonads - named after the golf section of the Manila Nomads Sports Club, based in Merville Park, Paranaque), to travel around the country for a domestic golf tour, instead of going overseas," David said.
From Bacolod, the tour came to Davao City in 1998. Mesmerized by the beauty of the Apo Golf course, the group decided to make it a home to the annual Elsie.
He said: "Despite the threat of terrorism that built up over the years, we always go there (Davao). But when the threat got too much in 2003, we decided to bring the game at the Luisita golf course in Tarlac, also a stunningly beautiful course."
He added most of the expats' embassies still warn against traveling to Mindanao up to this day.
"But our group still traveled to Davao even after the day there was a hijacking incident on a PAL flight," he recalled.
The Elsie Davao tour turned 10 recently. Hodges thanked Apo Golf's Martin Misa and his staff for being so accommodating.
He added, "We always look forward to playing the Apo Golf."
He said participants on the tour came from all walks of life from a handful of different countries -- England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Philippines, Australia, and the USA. They traveled from as far as Qatar, Indonesia and Singapore.
Hodges, a photographer based in Makati, had lived in the Philippines for 25 years now while Geoff Bradley is General Manager of FF International and Jonathan Thorp runs many successful restaurants in Manila.
Brian Lane and his brother, Colm, run Lane Moving, which has an office in Davao. Bob Horan, meanwhile, is a golf professional who used to manage the Country Club in Laguna while Etienne La'Brooy runs the El Nido resort in Palawan.
Gary Underwood is the younger brother of two famous England rugby players. Michael Whiting runs Sinclair James and owns Murphy's Irish pub in Makati while Rodney Hall is a famous face in advertising.
Mrs. Elsie, however, died of cancer in 2006. The same fate befell two of the golf's regulars - Terry Barnfield, an hotelier from Australia, and John Rice, a cartoonist formerly from England, last year.
"This year's edition was dedicated to them. Their names were put on the sleeves of the polo shirts for 2008," David shared.
The Elsie had raised a lot of money for the street children in Manila in the past. The group recently raised $1,000 for a nurses' organization in the United Kingdom that gives soothing care for cancer patients considering that three of their members died of the ailment.
The 2008 title went Fred Yusen, vice president of CWC International Corporation, who has family connections in Davao.
Hodges held the crown in 1998, 2001 and 2007 at the Apo while Sweden's Lars Lofgren was 1997 champion in Bacolod.
The other titlists were Ireland's Brian Lane (1999 at the Apo), USA's Albert Peña, Jr. (2000, 2002 at the Apo), England's Michael Hilton (2003 at Luisita), France's Richard Radier (2004 at Apo), N. Ireland's Ian Baxter (2005, Rancho Palos Golf and Country Club, Davao) and Ireland's Brendan Murphy (2006 at RPGCC).
