Getting ready

It’s barely a week before the Aboitiz Invitational 2011 and the people at Cebu Country Club are working hard to get the course ready for the tournament, which starts with a pro-am event on the 30th to be followed by the professional tournament on the 31st of August to the 3rd of September.

Playing at the course the other day gave me a preview of what to expect and indeed getting into the rough would pose some problems for the players, but with the wet conditions, it will even be tougher.

Clifford Celdran, general manager of the club, told me that the weather is making it very difficult to prepare the course to the specifications of the Asian Development Tour.

If you don’t know what’s happening yet, the Aboitiz Invitational is going to be the biggest-ever professional tournament in Cebu.

There will be a total of 126 pros participating. That’s 40 from the Pilipinas Golf Tour and 86 from the Asian Development Tour. The ADT is where the future stars of the Asian Tour and hopefully the other tours are now playing.

These players, who hail from different parts of the world, are vying for valuable Asian Tour cards that would allow them to play for even bigger money.

Next week’s tournament offers a total of $65,000 in prizes with the champion set to receive $11,000 or close to half a million pesos.

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Many of the younger golfers are now looking forward to a career as a pro. 

In fact, many of the new crop of Filipino professional golfers are the same guys, who I have been covering in the annual Philippine Airlines Interclub.

Not too long ago, Juvic Pagunsan, Artemio Murakami, and Tonton Asistio were stalwarts of their teams in the PAL Interclub.

I even had the chance to play alongside Juvic in one of the major tournaments of Alta Vista Golf and Country Club before he turned pro.

Next week’s event will allow the Cebuano golf fans a chance to see the best of the country in action.

Among the top Filipino pros, only Angelo Que is expected to be absent as he is scheduled to compete in Switzerland.

If you are in Cebu, you should not miss this opportunity to watch the pros play. Just make sure you follow the rules for the gallery to avoid accidents and so not to interfere with the action.

Just be prepared to get wet in case the weather doesn’t cooperate. Bring your rain coats and umbrellas as well as extra clothes.

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It is unfortunate that no matter how we try to separate sports from politics, it is hard to keep the two apart.

Politicians want to get into sports to improve their chances in the elections and some people introduce politics into sports organizations and ruin it.

I have met many people with brilliant ideas about sports, but I think there is no ultimate solution to what ails our country’s sports development.

We can all chip in a little to make it better and I believe that the best way that many can contribute to sports development is to stay away.

Yup, those who are there because of selfish intentions must stay away.

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MILESTONES: Happy birthday greetings to lawyers Dalisay Chavez-Ohdate and Hilario ‘Junjun’ Davide III, who are turning a year older today. The same goes to Retired Col. Clarence Martinez, Michael Relativo, and Bernie Lumapas.

Advance greetings to Lito de los Reyes, Rachelle Dangin, Maricar Cabahug-Teves, Roby Amor, and Bradley Estenzo, who are celebrating tomorrow.

Belated greetings to Rodney Dy, president of the SHS-AdC PTA, who turned a year older yesterday.

More power to all of you!