Pinoy Golfer Blog

Hot off the net - Fairhaven, MA (May 20, 2011) – Acushnet Company announced today that its parent company, Fortune Brands, Inc., has signed a definitive agreement for the sale of the company to a group led by Fila Korea, Ltd., the owner of the Fila brand globally, and Mirae Asset Private Equity, the largest private equity firm in Korea. Acushnet Company is one of the largest golf equipment companies in the world with annual sales of more than $1.2 billion in 2010. Its premium and storied brands include Titleist, the #1 ball in golf and a leader in high performance golf clubs, and FootJoy, the #1 shoe, glove and performance outerwear brand in golf. “The Acushnet Company has long been the trusted... Read More

A while back we featured the Callaway Diablo Octane driver; a high performance club which featured a titanium clubhead with a forged composite crown, a collaboration between the R&D teams of Callaway and automotive supercar manufacturer Lamborghini. Forged Composite is a revolutionary new material one-third the density of titanium, yet features a greater load carrying capacity per unit mass in bending, making it lighter and stronger than titanium. The adage goes that is some is good then more is better; meet the Diablo Octane’s big brother, the Callaway Razr Hawk. The Razr Hawk uses Forged Composite in 67% of the clubhead allowing Callaway’s engineers to precisely control wall thickness... Read More

Number 3 with the Ortigas skyline in the background Wack-Wack Golf Club’s East Course is the country’s oldest and most storied championship golf course. William J. Shaw was the impetus behind the club’s genesis. Disgusted with the elitism and policy of exclusion displayed at the 1926 Philippine Open when then sixteen-year-old Larry Montes was refused a seat at the victory dinner because he was a caddy, Shaw determined to build a golf club with the aim of promoting peace and harmony between golfers of all races. Working with a group of golfers from the old Municipal Golf Links, he succeeded and Wack-Wack was formed in 1930. The club’s name derived from the squawks of the crows that used... Read More

The champ with The Orchard's Rene Garrovillo and ICTSI's Nana Soriano Today we were treated to a masterful display by arguably the most talented Filipino golfer in the country today, Juvic Pagunsan. Starting 4 strokes behind overnight leader Elmer Salvador, who tied the course record on the Palmer with a 65 in his second round, Juvic caught fire early with an eagle on 2 and birdies on 3, 4, 5 and 6 for a front nine of 30. This tied him at -12 with Elmer who kept pace with birdies on 6 and 7 and narrowly missed another on 9. Salvador misjudged his approach on 10 putting his ball above the pin on the very undulating green. He then 3-putted to surrender the lead to Juvic who made par. Juvic stretched... Read More

Here’s the release from the Asian Tour Manila, May 15: Berry Henson of the United States held off a late charge from local hope Jay Bayron to win his first Asian Tour title at the ICTSI Philippine Open on Sunday. The Asian Tour rookie made a pivotal up-and-down for par on the last hole to close with one-over-par 73 to clinch his second international title in the span of two weeks at the challenging Wack Wack Golf and Country Club. Bayron battled tooth-and-nail before closing with a 72 to finish in second place for a 284 total, one stroke from the champion in the US$300,000 Asian Tour event. South Africa’s Jbe Kruger, who finished second on three occasions last year, endured another... Read More

Berry Henson was a picture of calm on the toughest day of the tournament; his one over par 73 on the final day was enough to hold off a surging Jay Bayron who could do no better than even par. Henson bogeyed the first and after Bayron took the lead on number two with an eagle 2, it looked like his tournament. But he quickly gave a stroke back to the course on 4 and when Henson made his birdie putt, the two stroke lead put Henson back in the lead to stay. Henson teeing off on 6 A crucial par putt on 7 put any nerves that Henson might have been feeling to rest. “If that putt hadn’t hit the hole, it would have gone in the water,” he remarked. “It put me immediately at ease.”... Read More

Berry Henson gets up and down on 16 Berry Henson survived the war of attrition at the 95th Philippine Open at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club and found himself in the lead by two over Jay Bayron and Jbe Kruger as his opponents crumbled about him. Henson is at 6-under par after three grueling days on Wack Wack’s East Course. “It played tough out there,” Henson said. “The pins were in locations where you could easily get the ball in bad spots. You could hit a good shot and have a really tough putt. I knew that after the front nine and tried to stay patient. I made about five pars before shooting two birdies. It was really tough today.” “I didn’t know... Read More

Himmat Rai joined Jay Bayron at the top of the leaderboard of the 95th Philippine Open with a 2-under par 70 which leaves him at 6-under for the two days. Rai bucked some erratic play off the tee by staying patient and making the most of the chances that were presented to him. “I’m extremely happy with what I shot,” Rai said in his post round interview. “It was hot out there and the wind picked up later in the afternoon. You have to focus and get back into the same rhythm because the adrenaline is high when you’re playing well.” Daisuke Kataoka rode a 3-under par 69 to a share of third with Jbe Kruger and Berry Henson. Kataoka showed great form and beautiful... Read More

Jay Bayron walked off Wack Wack’s East Course with a second consecutive round of 69 for a two day total of 6-under par and the halfway lead of the 95th Philippine Open. Bayron had his score down to 8-under but bogies on his closing holes dropped him back to -6. Jbe Kruger shot a superb 4-under par 68 to tie Berry Henson for second, one back of Bayron at 5-under par. Yesterday’s leaders Himmat Rai and Thanyakon Khrongpha are still on the course so anything can happen. As expected Miguel Tabuena missed the halfway cut which stands at 146 (2-over par). Other notables that will miss the weekend’s play are defending champion Artemio Murakami. Angelo Que bucked a scrappy second... Read More

Midway through the second day of play of the 95th Philippine Open at Wack Wack and we have a new leader; Jay Bayron has surged into the lead after just 12 holes of his round today. Jay Currently sits at 7-under par, two up on American Berry Henson and three ahead of five golfers tied at 4-under par. Yesterday’s leaders have yet to tee off so the situation remains fluid. Miguel Tabuena is currently at 1-over for the day and 7-over for the tournament and is in danger of missing the cut barring a birdie barrage in the closing holes of his round today. Images from the morning session of play today - Jay Bayron surges into the midday lead on day 2. Can he hold it? Berry Henson of the United... Read More

The Philippine Open is back on the Asian Tour and back at its historical home; the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club’s East Course. I love the buzz of a big tournament. Back in the golf of the Asian Tour, the Open is getting the prestige the oldest national open in Asia so richly deserves. Now all that’s left to do is find more prize money so we can attract the big names in Asian Golf. The Open feels right at home on the newly refurbished East Course too. The narrow tree-lined fairways and inclined, pushed up, lightning fast greens are more than many can handle as befits a tournament of this nature. The course looks pretty much the same and I believe that’s by design. There’s... Read More

When I got a Burner Superfast 2.0 driver as a long term test unit from Tour Master Golf (TaylorMade’s local distributor) I must admit that I felt a bit of a let down. At the launch of the R11 and Burner Superfast drivers at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club, I spent most of my range time trying to figure out which configuration of the R11 would work best for me. After all, I was very, very happy with my R9 and having had a lot of success with it, I naturally looked forward to spending quality time with its successor. There was no way I should like the Burner Superfast 2.0. If just flies in the face of everything I prefer in a driver. My drivers have faces that sit open at least a degree and... Read More

I jumped onto the hybrid bandwagon early on with the TaylorMade Rescue Mid; I had real issues with my fairway woods back then and the hybrid proved to be a real boon; the near iron-length of the club made it much easier to hit and it yielded close to my distance with a well struck fairway wood. Then later on, as my game progressed, I decided that I’d be better off with a pair of fairway woods. Additional length of any shot is like sugar to flies for any golfer and I was no exception. I eventually realized the folly of this decision when I discovered that I was avoiding playing my 4-iron (even after going to a very forgiving set of irons) every chance I got. I chance upon a You Tube video that... Read More