NOT for anything, but I doff my hat off to both Anthony de Leon and Tim Allen. Once again, both did an exceptionally good job at running the just-ended 66th San Miguel Fil-Am Golf Invitational backstopped by Toyota Motor Philippines.
Here’s a glass to you, guys.
Anthony—ADL to those close to him—is general manager of Baguio Country Club. Tim is big boss at BCC next-door-neighbor Camp John Hay. Both the BCC and CJH are iconic institutions in Baguio City.
While I know that BCC will turn 111 years old in March (I will be there again, God willing, to officiate the Club’s Member-Guest Tournament together with my fellow Rulesman Jake P. Ayson), I am not that sure when was CJH established. But I am almost certain the CJH, America’s rest and recreation area when its soldiers were still at Clark Air Base before the Philippine Senate voted the US out of the Philippines in 1991, is also a pre-war American conclave that, like the BCC, has withstood the ravages of time.
OK, a little bit more of history if you please?
The BCC was also built for use by Americans of high positions when we were still under American rule, almost right after the defeat of Spain at the turn of the century. That is why many halls and function rooms at BCC are named after US top officials during the American regime, including Taft, Harrison, Wolfson and Forbes. In their time, these men of immense power usually motored to the Pines City to escape the summer heat in Manila in the months from April to June.
The CJH was built much, much later mainly for American soldiers stationed at what used to be the US’s Clark Air Base in Angeles, Pampanga, which was extensively used for refueling of US jet fighters sent on a mission to Saigon during the tragic Vietnam War in the Sixties.
Anyways, back to Anthony and Tim. Together, they ensured a trouble-free Fil-Am Golf Invitational once more, keeping their heads cool when some imminent trouble reared its ugly head.
As always, the hundreds of participants from all over the country and scores overseas had been reined in with almost iron fists during the two-week spectacle, in the process preserving the “dignity of tradition” anchored on good behavior by the entire field at all times.
Take a bow, Anthony and Tim. Your leadership by example is one for the books.
(alsol47@yahoo.com)