DR. Peter Mancao, a “heart surgeon with a heart,” I like to call him because he’s such a nice fellow, shared his story on last week’s Cebu Country Club event played on for four rainy days. Wrote Doc Peter:
“My Coral Tee experience dates back to the late 90s when I came back to Cebu to start my practice in surgery. This time, I played golf on my own time compared to before when I played after school. I started playing golf at Alta Vista and so I qualified as a guest for Coral Tee with my dad (Dr. Miguel Mancao) as partner. The highlight came when we made it as a runner-up in the main event and in the calcutta event.
“In 2005, I became a CCC club member and have since partnered with my classmate in medical school, the urologist Dr. Edwin Lim (also known in golfing circles as ‘the father of Ericka Lim’). We look forward to the event not just for the golfing part but as a means to reminisce the year because we seldom see each other, even if we practice in the same city. This holds true with all the long-standing partnerships in Coral Tee. This year, the course was not at its best but the golfers still came and played (plodded on, really). The awarding is another venue where everybody meets everybody and it’s such a festive affair.”
Speaking of the awarding ceremony, one highlight last Saturday was the special honoring bestowed upon the man who has held the microphone as emcee for the past 33 years: Ed Misa.
On the raffle prizes, 101 items were distributed to the 430 golfers. They included a Samsung 55” curved TV, four Sony TVs, an iPad Air 2, Harman Kardon speakers, refrigerators, a vacuum cleaner and microwave oven.
Plus, the grandest of all was the Jeep Wranger won by a man who played his first Coral Tee exactly 25 years ago yesterday (Jan. 18, 1992) during his wedding day. That’s my good friend Alvin Alazas.
The Coral Invitational concluded with the following winners: Jojo Ong and Roy Damole (overall team champion), Lee Win Sun and Kim Young Soon (runner-up) Roberto Escaño and Thirdy Escaño (3rd), Rogelio del Prado, Jr. and Romeo Aguilon, Jr. (4th), Joselito Guiterez and Dante Maldia (5th), and Tadashi Ochiai and Alex Ignacio (6th). Lowest net (individual) to Bebot Baldemor and lowest gross to Weiwei Gao. For the Seniors division, Bebot Baldemor and Choie Ramos were tops and, for the overall lowest gross, the superior pairing of Mark Dy and Weiwei Gao.