Pinoy Golfer Blog

PG Invitational 2010 What: Pinoygolfer.com Invitational Golf Tournament 2010 Where: Mt. Malarayat Golf & Country Club Registration 6:00am -715am Tee time Double barrel 7:30am When: March 26, 2009, Friday How much: PhP 2,600 per person (inclusive of lunch, tournament fee, golf insurance & environmental fee, mulligan, giveaways and raffle prizes) Php 1,400. per person for Mt. Malarayat Golf & Country Club members Excluding: Caddie fee – PhP 500 Golf cart – PhP 950 (PhP 475 – twin sharing) Player will pay caddie and golf cart fee. Fees for golf carts will be paid directly to the club and caddie fees directly to the caddies on the day of the tournament. Conditions... Read More

When was the last time you played a real golf tournament? I don’t mean these “just-for-fun-system-36-with-mulligans-and-gimmes” nonsense; a real golf tournament where all the rules of golf apply? You do remember the rules of the game, don’t you? Probably not. Well the Business Mirror has recognized that fact and is holding a serious golf tournament for golfers that want to reconnect with the essence of the game. The First Inter-School Alumni Golf Tournament will be held at the East Ridge Golf and Country Club on the 19th of April, 2010. It will be a 36-hole affair that is open to alumni from all recognized schools in the country. A total of 7 divisions (5 for men, 1 each for seniors... Read More

Go down the list of what are now commonly called extreme sports and you won’t find golf listed among them. But a couple of fanatical golfers have found a way to elevate the normally staid game of golf to a level that can only be described as extreme when they played 144-holes of golf in one day. Tired but triumphant, Escaler and Soong celebrate after 12 hours on the course That’s right; 144-holes of golf in a day. Well, 12-hours to be more precise. Whatever, that’s a month’s worth of golf to many and these guys did it in a day. Wellington “Willy” Soong and Noel Escaler aren’t new to this. In fact in consecutive years from 2005 to 2007, they played 5, 6 and then 7 rounds of golf... Read More

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The twin courses at Canlubang Golf and Country Club are among my favourites in the country. Nothing rivals them for sheer scale, beauty and challenge to the golfer. In the country to help his father build Hacienda Luisita in the 1960s, Robert Trent Jones, Jr. was shown this stunning piece of real estate by Don Jose Yulo that was so perfect that the courses he built here have served as his inspiration for many of his other designs in the country. The North Course is yin to the South Course’s yang; the strong, silent one to its more flamboyant next door neighbour. Not that the North is unattractive. Far from it. It’s just that few golf courses... Read More

Bob Bettinardi has quickly be come one of the most recognized putter manufacturers in the world. His putters look like they belong in glass cases instead of some golfer’s bag of clubs. But they are functional art. Quality pieces manufactured to incredibly tight, military-grade tolerances. Overkill? Perhaps. But the putters are for my money the best on the market today. Robert Bettinardi, Sr. established a machine shop and metal manufacturing facility over 25-years ago and his son Robert J. (Bob) Jr. joined him in the family business straight out of college with a degree in mechanical engineering. After Bob learned all about working with and manufacturing metals, he struck off on his own and... Read More

When Epon first announced the new AF-302 and that it was to be an upgraded version of the venerable AF-301 which I’d had in my bag the last year, I received the news with more than a bit of trepidation. After all, I held the AF-301 in the highest regard; the aesthetics were near perfect and the feel at impact was unmatched by all but a few forged irons on the market. It was what I thought was the perfect forged iron. How the heck was Epon going to improve on it? I was apprehensive that the effort to improve it would compromise its performance, but having met Niimi Kiyonari, Epon’s lead designer and being thoroughly impressed by his passion for golf and technical prowess, I resolved to keep... Read More

Callaway used to be known as a company that produced golf clubs for the mid-to-high handicap golfer. Not so long ago a fellow named Roger Cleveland joined their brain trust and things were never the same again. He spear-headed a drive within the company to produce clubs for the better player and his efforts were met with much success. The latest such product is the Callaway Jaws wedge with its ball-shredding Mack Daddy grooves. These wedges can do some major damage. Even on chips just from around the fringe, this Jaws wedge was filling its grooves with the outer layer of every golf ball it came in contact with. Other than a lot of damaged golf balls, the result is very impressive spin on... Read More

Just off the beaten track that is the Tagaytay Ridge on the Diokno Highway heading down to the town of Lemery in Batangas is the sleepy, scenic Canyon Woods Residential Resort. A project of Tagaytay Grasslands, a subsidiary of G2 Global, Canyon Woods seems to have somehow survived and prospered while other golf clubs and resorts have fallen on hard times. The Tagaytay fog cloaks the Clubhouse The project started with the development of a 35-hectare property and today sits at over 220-hectares with 200 hectares more ready for future expansion. As early as August 1995, small-lot sizes were offered initially and had been depleted with an average of 18 units per month. Price performance indicators... Read More

My time at the 93rd Philippine Open was not all fun and games. There was lots to do and a lot of it was important work. The 13th (4th on the Lobo) My morning usually began at 6 AM when I would go into the tournament office, pick up a pin sheet and go do the rounds of the golf course. On my way out I also checked the tournament tees to make sure they were in the right spots and the correct width apart but the real objective was to make sure the pin placements were correctly reflected on the pin sheets. The pros needed to be 100% confident that the information they have is correct. If there was a discrepancy, a radio call was made to the two starters and the other tournament referees to make sure... Read More

The Mini was one of the seminal cars of my youth. I grew up going to slaloms and drag races with my father watching Conrado “Dodo” Ayuyao in his Mini Cooper 1275 S duking it out with Pocholo Ramirez in his Toyota Corolla and Chito Monserrat in his Ford Escort. The Mini Cooper was very competitive and often won those duels; it became the dream car of a car crazed youth. I had mixed feelings when the brand was eventually acquired by BMW in 2001. I was afraid that the Mini would go the way of so many other brands whose fate was doomed by a merger or acquisition, but BMW is an enthusiast’s car company and I was needlessly concerned. The new car is faithful to the original but slightly bigger... Read More

Birthday boy Elmer Salvador is the 93rd Philippine Open Champion Elmer Salvador celebrated his 40th birthday in magnificent style by winning the 93rd Philippine Open Golf Championships by 3 strokes over Dutch National Guido Van der Valk. Salvador bucked a rough start when he briefly lost the lead on Mt. Malarayat’s Makulot 9 but rallied to pull even again at the turn. Van der Valk then bogied the par 3 11th and Elmer pulled ahead by one. NGAP Secretary General Commodor Danny Pizaro, Mt. Malarayat Chair Antonio Turalba, Sr. and NGAP Tournament Dircetor Pablo Soon award Salvador his trophy and a hefty check “That was the turning point,” Salvador said in Tagalog, “I knew... Read More

Elmer Salvador endured an up and down round but remains tied for the lead Elmer Salvador’s game lost steam today and that allowed pursuers Guido Van der Valk and Angelo Que to make up ground on the halfway leader. Salvador started off on the wrong foot with a bogie on number 1 and a double on number 5 but regained his footing somewhat with birdies on 5, 6 and 7 to finish even par on the front side. His roller coaster round continued with a birdie to start the back but he quickly gave it back with a bogies on 12, 13 and 14. He birdied 15 and 16 to pull back to even par but quickly bogied 17 to surrender another stroke to the course to finish at 1-over par for the day when he only managed... Read More

Elmer Salvador leads the 93rd Philippine Open by 3 strokes after two days Moving day at the Philippine Open saw the country’s new rising star Elmer Salvador remain red hot and still in the lead of the 93rd Philippine Open by three strokes after backing up his opening day 63 with a 6-under par 66 for a two day total of 129. Playing with a borrowed putter after his regular gamer was somehow damaged at last week’s ICTSI Canlubang Invitational, his putting remained as hot as his ball striking and continues to keep the rest of the field at arm’s length heading into the weekend. If he keeps this pace of play up, he should think about keeping this putter in the bag permanently. Defending... Read More

Elmer Salvador file photo from ICTSI Canlubang Invitational Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit winner Elmer Salvador took full advantage of the benign weather conditions and soft greens to post a 9-under par 63 to lead the first day of the 93rd Philippine Open at Mt. Malarayat Golf and Country Club. Starting on the back nine, Salvador, playing with defending Philippine Open champion Angelo Que made the turn in 33 and went on a tear. He birdied all but one of the par-4s (the first) and eagled number 7 (on the Makulot course) for a 6-under par 30 on his inward nine. His considerable ball striking was complimented by a red hot putter on the day; no one could keep up with him Angelo Que tried to... Read More

Arrived at Mt. Malarayat Golf and Country Club this morning before the proam started. I didn’t play as I still had stuff to do for the Business Mirror Golf section due out this Thursday. After the proam, I did manage to sneak out for a quick nine holes on the Lobo course which will serve as the back nine for the pros at the Open. The course setup today was forgiving. Pins were cut in friendly positions and the greens were heavily watered and were soft and receptive. I don’t think they’ll be watered again until the end of the tournament, but you never know. The field is strong; the only one missing is Juvic Pagunsan who told me at Canlubang last week that he probably would be... Read More