The 1st Amo Cup

I received a text message Tuesday from my favorite ex-Blue Eaglet, Raul Encarnacion, informing me of the ace made by Bobby Barria on hole No. 13 of Alta Vista Golf and Country Club.

Since there are many people, who make fools out of others on April 1st, Raul was nice enough to emphasize at the end of his message that it was no April Fools joke.

Yeah, Bobby did score an ace on the 165-yard hole using a Taylor Made No. 5 iron and a Titleist Pro V No. 4 ball. 

Aside from Raul, others who witnessed the feat and will be in Bobby’s celebration were Gerry Quintos of Sta. Lucia Realty and AVGCC director Ricky Aznar.

Raul is one of my favorite informants when it comes to feats like this, but this is the first time that he was really there as witness.

Congratulations, Bobby and thanks, Raul!

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I was in the meeting for the 1st Albino D. Gothong Memorial Golf Tournament last Tuesday night at the May-I room of City Sports Club Cebu.  We’ll fondly call the event, the ‘Amo Cup.’

It was great to be with the original members of the Filipino-Chinese golf tournament committee, which will be organizing this event to honor our patron and godfather, who we fondly called Amo.

The contribution of Amo to Cebu golf has been tremendous as he raised the level of tournaments in Cebu most especially during the days of the economic boom.

More than being an avid golfer and sportsman, Amo was also a man with a soft heart for the underprivileged.

The purpose of the tournament, aside from keeping the memory of Albino alive among his friends in the Cebu golf community, is also to raise funds for various charities that he supported when he was alive.

This makes participating in the event as a player and most especially as sponsor really worthwhile.

The tournament will be a two-day event at the Alta Vista Golf and Country Club and will use the Stableford System of scoring.

Players will have to choose on what day they would play.

There were already initial talks about giveaways and registration fees, but the formal announcement would be made very soon.  As in any Albino Gothong-backed event, the giveaways will be well worth taking part in the event.

Present in Tuesday night’s meeting were Albino’s daughter Bambi Gothong-Tan, his nephew Bob Gothong and the members of the Fil-Chinese committee – Oly Dychangco, Inting Go, Arturo Go, Ang Chiong, Ramon Sebastian, and this deadline beater.

This will be our chance to show our appreciation for the way Amo touched our lives when he was with us.  He may have gone on to where the greens and fairways are always at their best shape, but his memory lives on in the hearts of many people, most especially us in the committee of this event.

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MILESTONE: Congratulations to Kim Grace Alinsug Mendoza-Deldig for passing the 2007 Bar Examinations. Kim is the younger sister of my TAO brother Ernesto Mendoza. She is the wife of Eric Deldig of Sunview Corp.