An ace and a forum

He was baptized Moises, friends and family call him Loloy, but I call him Tuts, which is a derivative of the word coach, but I would not anymore get into the lengthy tale how that came to be.

Moises ‘Loloy’ Soriaga, who has been golfing since they wore those skinny short pants that we call in the dialect as pakigol (that’s based on the pictures he has posted on his Facebook account), scored his first hole-in-one last Tuesday on the 155-yard No. 3 of Cebu Country Club.

Although, not the longest par-3 in the layout, No. 3 is probably the trickiest as a shot that is way too short could mean sending your ball to its watery grave until it gets resurrected by the retrievers and sold to the duffers as part of a bag full of “experienced balls.”

 Hit your tee shot a bit long and you land in the bunker and if you go even longer, you have to hit another one as the ball would land out of bounds. Going too far right would mean finding the water and too far left could also be OB.

Using a #22 Super Newing and a Titleist Pro Trajectory 7-wood, Loloy nailed his tee shot around 2 p.m.

The feat was witnessed by my cousin Jet Hofer, Wally Warick, Ruel Murakami, and Manuel Fajardo.

Congratulations, Tuts!

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I received an invitation to the Sports Tourism Forum in Davao next week.

The organizers asked me to share the role of media in the promotion of sports and destinations.

Aside from advocating the participation of children in sports, I have also long been pushing sports tourism.

While to some, this may mean bringing in the foreigners to visit Cebu for sports activities, it also covers getting the local to converge in one area for sporting events.

The Provincial Meet, which is held yearly brings hundreds of athletes and officials to one town and give the economy of the place a boost.

These people might not be spending too much compared to the traveling golfers or divers, but their mere presence in the area helps spur business.

The same have been observed in the Gov’s Cup Airsoft and Volleyball competitions, which are held in various areas around the province.

Paulo Garcia, son of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, once shared how a barbecue vendor in the northern town of San Remigio saw her earnings grow more than a thousand percent in one weekend due to the orders placed by the different teams participating in their air soft competition.

Part of espousing sports tourism should be preparing the people of the host area to deal with a sudden influx of business, which shall encourage the event’s organizers and participants to come back to the area if they are satisfied with what they get.

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MILESTONES: Congratulations to my mistah, Lt. Col. Rene Honasan, commander of Tactical Operations Group (TOG)-6, which was adjudged as the best TOG during the anniversary celebration of the 2nd Air Division.

Today’s birthday greetings go to Mayenne Cuyos, Lt. Col. Nolasco Mempin of the 78th IB, and Mabelle Tan-Po.

Advance greetings go to Dr. Serapio Salazar, Jr., Vic Reyes, Sheila Florabel Guimary, and Atty. Raymond Alvin Garcia, who are turning a year older tomorrow.

More power to all of you!