Pinoy golfers must dish out best vs region’s best

DOHA — They trained long and hard for this, the big one in its ambitious golf program that took off early this year with a lot of promise, produced some good results midway in the season but got stymied by poor performances heading into the Asian Games here.

So it is no surprise that the pressure will be too heavy, the expectations too high when the country’s top shotmakers mix it up with the continent’s best in golf competitions unfolding Dec. 8 at the Doha Golf Club.

"They need to bounce back from a series of mediocre performances. And this is one tournament they had been looking forward to," said Nestor Mendoza, one of the coaches overseeing the golf program aimed at producing world class players and put up by ICTSI early this year. "But they have to play well."

Truly, Marvin Dumandan, Jay Bayron, Michael Bibat and Gene Bondoc must come up with their A-games if they are to topple the fancied bets from Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand. But gauging from their last few tournaments leading to this week’s battle, nothing nice could be said of their performances.

They hobbled in the Singapore Open, got clobbered in the Turkish Open and World Amateurs, were never in contention in the Hong Kong Open and just recently, got humbled again in the Asia Pacific Open in China.

"They have been hitting their shots well but they just couldn’t score," said Mendoza. "It’s a question of mental toughness. So, every night the last few weeks, we have a heart-to-heart talk with each one of them. We hope, it will be a different thing in Doha."

Among the four, only Bayron has been effectively dishing out better games but the same could not be said of Dumandan, Bibat and Bondoc, who, however, are all expected to play with a lot of motivation at the hazard-laden, well-kept layout near the West Bay Lagoon, some eight kilometers north of central Doha.

The team arrives today together with the taekwondo squad, another sport expected to deliver the goods for an embattled Philippine contingent still without a medal, even a bronze, after two full days of competition.

In contrast, the youthful but talented women’s squad, led by Dottie Ardina and Cyna Rodriguez, is looking good, their confidence boosted by their victories in the Junior World Championships in San Diego and a pair of 1-2 finishes in the Indonesia and Hong Kong Opens.

Although they placed 30th in the World Amateurs in South Africa, it was a great learning experience for the teenage duo to be backed up by veteran internationalist Anya Tanpinco.

"Our girls team has a big chance (for a medal), especially if we would be allowed to tee off on the red box," said Mendoza, who also expects to face stiff challenge from the Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese bets.

The RP golfers actually took practice rounds at the par-72 course, home of the Qatar Masters, two weeks ago and are expected to have familiarized themselves with its character and challenges in time for the big event.