Friday, November 14, 2008 Garcia: Golf and Boxing By Imee Garcia
Sports Study: After a 2-year study, the National Science Foundation announced the following results on America's recreational preferences:
The sport of choice for unemployed or incarcerated people is: Basketball.
The sport of choice for maintenance level worker is: Bowling.
The sport of choice for blue-color worker is: Football.
The sport of choice for supervisors is: Baseball.
The sport of choice for middle management is: Tennis.
The sport of choice for corporate officers: Golf.
Conclusion: The higher you rise in the corporate ladder the smaller your balls become.
I have been thinking about how I can connect golf with boxing. I have been trying to find similarities between the two, but I can't seem to think of any. But I can mention a lot of differences between the two.
In golf, there are 18 holes. In boxing, there are 12 or 15 rounds. However, when there is a knockout, the match ends before the 15th round. In golf, in match play, the match may not reach the 18th hole as well. In golf, your handicap will determine what class or division you play in. In boxing, your weight determines your division. I have seen so many heavyweights in golf. John Weckler, you're my champ!
In golf, you use one glove or none at all. In boxing, you were two gloves. (Imagine if we were to interchange the two.) In boxing, you go for the head. In golf, you go after the balls. Guys, need I remind you, we are talking about golf and boxing.
In golf, you cover a huge area when you play. In boxing, you are limited to a small square ring. In golf, the people watching are quiet. In boxing, everyone is screaming and noisy.
In golf, you prefer to be fully clothed. In boxing, you are almost naked. In golf, the less strokes, the better. In boxing, the more strokes, the better. Speaking of strokes, a friend of mine asked me a question recently. He asked: "How many strokes are you giving me when we play?" And since he was a better player than me, I replied: "It's the other way around...how many strokes are YOU giving me?" And he replied: "Imee...that's personal...hehe." I paused and thought, hmmm, naughty, naughty.
You are probably wondering why I bothered to compare golf with boxing. It is because Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao has taken up the game of golf. He has been spotted in General Santos City taking lessons from local golf pros as well as golf pros from Manila.
There are talks about a golf tournament being organized on his behalf at Sarangani Golf Club. It will be held sometime around the 17th of December and it will be called The 1st Pacman's Cup.
It has been ages since I last played golf at Sarangani Golf Club. It is a tough and challenging 9-hole course located minutes outside GenSan (approximately 15 minutes before reaching the city, from Davao). I was there when they inaugurated it years ago, and during that time, I even had the pleasure of walking and chatting with President Fidel Ramos whom we know is an avid golfer.
The local personalities had plans of converting the golf course from a 9-hole one to an 18-hole one; however, there were problems about the land. It is unfortunate because the budget was already there. Hopefully, sometime in the future, they may be able to fix the problem about the land dispute because I heard that the area proposed for the second 9 is very suitable for golf with running streams and nice angulation I believe.
So if you can't beat Pacman in the ring, you can try your luck beating him on the fairways. Now is our chance to knock him out while he's still starting out in golf!
Good luck to the participants of the Durian Tee at Apo Golf Club!
