MARKO Sarmiento was teeing off the 18th hole in the second round when his shot hit a branch at the right side of the fairway and bounced to right in the middle of the fairway.
“Better lucky than good!” he told his non-playing teammates just as he got to his ball for his second shot.
Luck, I learned, is just one of the many factors for a good round. In the three rounds that I’ve observed in both Marapara and Binitin— the more common names for the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club and Bacolod Golf and Country Club courses—l’ve seen quite a lot of tee shots that hit the trees; some would luckily bounce back to the green, while the rest would leave the player with a shot out of Ripley’s.
“Ang hirap ng laro’ng ito,” said one player, as he surveyed how to get his ball, which landed near a tree trunk, back to the green.
He was thinking of playing it backhanded— and our photog Ruel proceeded to position himself for an interesting angle—when his teammates ribbed him, “Bilisan mo na, may photog na.” He laughed, let out a curse. Then safely hit it just a couple of few back to get free of the tree, then took another shot to get back in the fairway.
“I can just say this is unplayable, right?” another young player asked non-playing members of the CCC in the second round, when his ball landed at the base of the tree in the second round.
He whacked thrice and was forced to pick up. Then there’s the mental bit, which is a big factor according to veteran Eric Deen. If you’re used to playing in a particular division, and you get to play in a higher or lower division, your game will change.
“Kung tan-aw nimo, makaya ra imo mga kuyog, that will be a huge factor,” he said.
Then there’s the course conditions, which seems to have turned from bad to worse as the tournament progresses. Charlie Erojo, PAL’s point-man for media, had an interesting tale regarding the conditions.
One Davao golfer was just about to tee off when suddenly, the winds picked up.
“Gising na sila,” he wryly said to his flightmates. Waking up early, too could be a factor. I was told that some contenders in the lower divisions lost their ground in the final day because they had to play early. Thanks to that, Mactan Island Golf found itself in the podium last year, unexpectedly.
“Daghan kaayong factors, dili lang ang score,” runner turned golfer Jay-R Aguilon told me. Aguilon is with Mactan, who, as of the third round was 23 points ahead of the second placer.
Even with that big a lead, he wasn’t counting out their rivals. Why? Because it’s golf. Strange things happen on the course.