Friday, October 24, 2008 Heat and Fun at the Attap FesTEEval Showdown
ALL roads led to the first ever FesTEEval Showdown at the Mimosa Golf and Country Club last October 15.
The golf tournament, organized by the Alliance of Travel and Tour Agencies of Pampanga (Attap) in cooperation with the Department of Tourism (DOT)-Region 3 and Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) and participated in by golf aficionados of Manila and Pampanga was really a huge success.
There were a total of 153 players who showed up and enjoyed the game while giving support to the cause of the tourney.
Amid the heat and early tee-off of the tourney, Attap president Paz Gozum of Go Paz Travel; overall chairman of the event Belen Guzman of Ecozone Travel and DOT Region 3 Director Ronnie Tiotuico topped the welcoming party as PTA general manager Mark Lapid and former beauty title holder, now Angeles City councilor Maricel “Marang” Morales led the ceremonial tee-off.
Mind you, I am not a golfer in any sense of the word and maybe I cannot endure the long-distance trek to the vast ground of Mimosa Golf and Country Club. But, I have always welcomed the idea of being in the greens, breathe the cool air and enjoy the view of the 86-hectare rolling terrain set against the backdrop of mountain ranges.
We (Jimmy Pingul of Angeles Observer and Edward David of Celtour) followed some of the players during the first hours of the 18-hole tournament and were able to catch some who’s who in the city like Atty. Francis Dimaliwat, GM of the Mabalacat Water District, Raffy Angeles of the Angeles Observer, Bryan Guzman, Benedict Rivera, Dr. Serge Rojo, Jun Romero, visitors from the Sabah Tourism Board, just to mention a few.
The lone hole-in-osne winner of the tourney, Hole No. 3 (Acacia View), Chad Burrows (Sponsored by Angeles City Sports Club, Rey Pineda and Ben Pennell, thanks!!), definitely inspired me! With his fine strokes and form, maybe one of these days I should also be playing golf to acquire that physique.
Golfers obviously turns tan under the heat of the sun and most often have lean bodies (and so are the lady caddies!!) due to long distance walks in the golf course (if they will spare the club cars hehe!).
BIG TIME PRIZES! Later in the evening during the awarding ceremonies at the Rib Eye Function Hall, Metrobank (Balibago) Branch Head Jun Leoncio assisted Attap in the raffling and announcing the lucky golfers the prizes sponsored by Eva Air, Cebu Pacific and the Sabah Tourism Board such as roundtrip airfares to the USA (via Eva Air); Seoul (via Asiana Airlines), Bangkok (via Cebu Pacific), Macau (via Tiger Airways), Boracay (via Asian Spirit); roundtrip fares to any domestic destination, hotel accommodations at First House Hotel in Bangkok; overnight villa accommodation at Alegre Beach Resort in Cebu and many more minor prizes like Adidas sport shirts, electric fans, rice cookers, dinner gift certificates and golf umbrellas.
Spencer Concepcion, Floraliza Bautista, Enrico Garcia, Roel Feliciano, Atty. Dimaliwat, Bryan Guzman and Raffy Angeles were announced to be the major prize winners. Happy Trip! After the raffle and award ceremonies, more treats awaited the golfers that evening. They were offered a delectable buffet dinner of roast pork, beef, lechon, mixed vegetables and Korean noodles with special sauce (yummy!) while listening to a live band.
Teamwork wins! According to Mam Paz, Attap officers namely VP Aurora Agustin of Amega Travel, Mae Carreon of Wild Orchid Travel, Annabelle David of Eurogate Travel, Ana Maria Rivera of Sunshine Travel, Marissa Cura of MRC Travel and Cecil Concepcion of Le Grand Tours and Travel and its members have largely contributed to the positive result of the first golf tournament project. Kudos to you all! :-)
