WE were on the way out of Binitin during the first day of the PAL Interclub men’s regular tournament when I and photographer Ruel Rosello had to pause because one player was about to take a shot; one move away from misery. He was near the edge of the fairway, with trees to his right and the green to his left; he hit the tree and the ball went out of bounds.
We laughed and quickly hushed ourselves, lest we be escorted off the course. Make no mistake, golf is a difficult game, and we can’t hit the fairway even if our lives depended on it, but I’m sure that after the initial anger dissipated, the guy would be laughing at his misfortune. Bayani Garcia also hit a tree but still ended up being the leading scorer of CCC.
This year’s CCC is no longer the same CCC team that had an impressive 15-year stretch where they had two grand slams in the Founders Division and won the Championship Division twice. Only Bayani, Marko Sarmiento, Eric Deen, and Mark Dy are left from that squad, while the rest feature returning players or first-timers.
Two other former CCC guys, Jovi Neri and Andre Borromeo, are also seeing action for Club Filipino de Cebu and Lumbia (Bacolod), respectively, and both did well in the first day, leading their respective teams. (I wrote this before the start of the second round). Jovi scored 28 points for Club Filipino and Andre had the same for Lumbia. When I saw his name on the list, I had to ask Marko if this was the same Andre who played for CCC years back and he gave a big yes.
I teased Andre, who would be the hands’ down Best Individual scorer if golf included running, biking and swimming, that it seems the ex-CCCs are doing better than the young guns. He laughed but corrected me, though, and I quote his words: “It’s only Tyler who’s the young one today (first round). Tomorrow (second round) will be the young team. Tyler, Nino, Harvey and Gio. Ang tiguwang tomorrow is Marko,” he said.
Tyler is Peter Tyler Po III, the reigning Philippine Amatuer champion, while Gio is Gio Gandionco, who is returning to PAL action after a four-year college scholarship in the US. Marko, of course, is Marko Sarmiento, who I think, just a few years from now will be more known in Cebu sports as the father of Lucas the footballer.
Though they are now playing for different teams, I’m pretty sure the young once are hoping the young guns of CCC will help the veterans bring home that title.