Being sporty is more fun

The View Invitational 2012, which ended last Sunday at Alta Vista Golf and Country Club, was hailed as a success by several members and guests.

The annual member-guest tournament did not only become a venue to promote closer ties among the members and to reconnect with friends from other golf clubs and places, but also to showcase what the club has to offer.

There are a few more tournaments scheduled at AVGCC in the next two months like the Amo Cup on the 23rd and 24th of June and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce event on July 20.

There is also an event organized by the Korean Association after the Amo Cup.

Yesterday, the Globe GTour was also held there.

It is definitely more fun in Alta Vista!

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After playing my second and last round for The View Invitational last Sunday, I went to the University of San Carlos-Talamban Campus to watch the championship games for the 40-above and the men’s open classes of the Cebu Interclub Football Cup.

I caught the later part of the second half of the 40-above battle, which featured my former team Queen City United and ERCO Football Club.

The match went into extra time and then later into a penalty shootout. Luckily, in the end, after 11 unsuccessful attempts, Queen City United won the title for the category that is designed to get people, who have aged gracefully to continue playing.

The line up of Queen City United had several players, who were my contemporaries and those who were there much ahead of us, which was also the same for ERCO.

Somebody commented that the 40-above championship battle was as exciting as the UEFA Champions League final match between Chelsea and Bayern Munich.

I believe the observation was right considering that the shootout had to go into sudden death to determine the winner.

The two major differences though were that it wasn’t played in a packed stadium and that the speed that it was played probably seemed like the UEFA battle in slow-mo.

If there was anything that made me very happy that I found time to be there, is that I saw many old friends who have made my coverage of football tournaments during the early years of my chosen career as a sportswriter more meaningful.

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MILESTONES: Belated happy birthday greetings to those who turned a year older yesterday like Kharoline Dante-Dizon.

Today’s greetings go to Fr. Randy Figuracion SDB, my good friend Vince Colina, Mae Ann ‘Sitam’ Manubag-Gustilo, Dannaliza Toled-Page, and my mistah Lt. Col. Ed Gubat of the Philippine Army.

More power to all of you! - THE FREEMAN