PAL Interclub Golf on in Bacolod

By Al S. Mendoza

 

THE sporting nation pauses anew to give way to the PAL (Philippine Airlines) Interclub Golf Championship teeing off this week in Bacolod City.

No less than Jaime J. Bautista, the soft-spoken and extremely amiable PAL president, will hit the ceremonial tee shot tomorrow, Feb. 26.

Jimmy, as Bautista is affectionately called by his friends (I’m proud to be one of them, of course), will do the honors at Marapara.

Marapara, which produced the country’s first amateur in Luis “Golem” Silverio to win the fabled Philippine Open, is now known as the Negros Occidental Golf & Country Club.

Before his untimely demise some years back, I had the rare privilege to have dinner and a chat with Golem up to the wee hours of the morning.

That momentous occasion, which was also attended by my fellow golf rulesman Jake P. Ayson and PAL executive Job Lamela, was held at the famed Bacolod Chicken House owned by my dear friend, Joe Cajili.

Ah, to think of Golem is to reminisce on his golf greatness.

He has no equal to this day, his shot making unmatched by even legends like Ben Arda and Tino Tugot. But that’s another story.

The PAL Interclub is considered the national team championship for golf.

National players distributed in different clubs are entered anew, making the event as their traditional main jumping board to a career in pro golf.

After Jimmy’s ceremonial tee shot tomorrow, the participants in the PAL Seniors division plunge to action on March 1 after a two-day practice.

Aside from Marapara, Binitin in nearby Murcia will be the other battlefield.

Binitin, now known as the Bacolod Golf Club, is a short, but tricky, tree-lined course having greens as small as postage stamps.

Defending Seniors champion Luisita from Tarlac is expected to face a tough challenge anew from Laguna’s Canlubang Sugar Barons.

After the Seniors (55-years-old and above), the Men’s Regular follows on March 7-10, with Manila Southwoods seeking history by gunning for its fourth straight crown.

No team has ever scored a “4-peat” in the 70-year-old tournament.

Canlubang and Camp Aguinaldo are the only other teams with three PAL Interclub titles across their names.

A side event to the Interclub is the PAL Media tournament, which I won 20 years ago—during the golden anniversary of the PAL Interclub.

My prizes then were two PAL business class tickets Manila-New York and back, which were used by my wife and daughter.

To this day, my daughter relishes with unrestrained fondness her trip to the so-called Big Apple.

Again, the PAL Interclub is backstopped by Platinum sponsors Primax Broadcasting, RMN and Fox, and major sponsors BusinessWorld Publishing, Rolls Royce, TV5 and Philippine Standard.  Also robust supporters are Boeing, Under Armour, Eton Properties and Asia Brewery.

Will I win the PAL Media tournament again on March 5-6?

I won it last in 1997, also in Bacolod (the beloved city of dear friends Ramon & May Uy).

I can only pray and hope I’d do it again.

Only God knows.

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