See you in Cebu

Davao City – This could be a historic weekend for the Cebuanos in the Philippine Airlines (PAL) Interclub Golf Tournament.

I am writing this while pacesetting Cebu Country Club is still halfway through the third round of the tournament protecting a ten-point lead over defending champion Del Monte Golf Club at the Rancho Palos Verdes Golf and Country Club.

While a ten-point lead looks big, anything can still happen in this tournament, which is the reason why I am rather cautious with what I write, but at the same time hopeful of being able to write that big story late today after the final round of the tournament.

If Cebu Country Club win’s the Championship Division title, it will be the first for the club, which had once been the most dominant team in the second-ranked Founders Division.

The only Cebu team to have won the overall title of the tournament is Club Filipino, but that was during the early years of the PAL Interclub when the field wasn’t this big.

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Covering this tournament used to be a lot easier too.

The seniors’ event was played on one course while the men’s tournament was played immediately after in another course.

With the number of participants growing, the organizers were forced to use two golf courses, which also resulted to adding more days to the event.

While the PAL Interclub is now on its 65th year, there are still many golf clubs that have refused to appreciate the tournament, which is regarded as the national club championships.

While to some this may seem just an event where eight players of the club take part in the seniors’ division and ten in the men’s division, there is so much more to it than arranging the plane tickets to booking hotels.

Even the fielding of players for a particular course has to be done carefully if you want to be competitive.

I am already looking forward to next year’s tournament in Cebu and the fact that I will just be home and don’t have to deal with packing clothes and my golf equipment to head to another city.

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With over a thousand players taking part in the two tournaments, the PAL Interclub not only brings the golf spotlight to the host, but more importantly it also brings in millions of pesos to the economy.

Not only the golf clubs will be busy, but also the hotels, transport providers, restaurants, and entertainment places.

This early, many teams are already looking for places to stay in Cebu and many players are getting in touch with friends and relatives in the Queen City of the South as part of their preparation and excitement for next year.

See you in Cebu!

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MILESTONES: Happy birthday greetings go to Bro. Mari Aberasturi, Cathy Talaugon-Angeles, Nikov Ng, and James Ramos, who are celebrating today.

Advance greetings to those turning a year older tomorrow like my mistah Jonathan Caballes, Michelle Dominique Sanchez, Chuchay Streegan-Verches, James Boyles, and Hubert Lim.

More power to all of you!