Philippine Open 1st Round

Written: December 15, 2010

            The 1^st round of the Philippine Open is in the books folks!  Today was my debut playing the Philippine Open, a tournament that I could only dream of playing as a junior golfer growing up back then.  15 years ago, I began playing competitive golf ironically enough in Valley Golf, the same site as the Philippine Open.  Heck, my little brother Casey wasn’t even born back then.  Those were the days when I was the only child, accompanied by both my parents to every golf tournament, recital, sporting event, charity event, parent-teacher day, birthday party, etc. You name it! They were there. 

Those are the memories I’ll have of Valley Golf when both of my parents would come along and watch the weekly tournaments hosted by Cantada.

Those are the memories of Nonoy Negrido and his father Sarge coming along to play the tournament.  Sarge, who’s like a second father to me, nurtured me both as golfer and as a person from that young age.

Those are the memories of meeting new people that would turn into lasting friendships.

Alright, enough of the emo part.  Although it was my first time playing this event, there were no nerves whatsoever.  Having played a bunch of pro tournaments and finding success in the last 3 months prior, stepping on the tee box in this type of arena was nothing new.  It showed by the very first tee shot which I piped down the center of the 20-yard wide fairway with a good sized crowd watching behind and my heart rate not speeding up one bit.  Actually, I was lost in my own world, for better or for worse, trying to figure out the kinks in my swing.  For some reason, I couldn’t quite control where the ball was going on the full swing, especially in the mid to long irons.  With all those swing thoughts swirling around my head, I could care less about what was going on around me.  The first hole began by me once again sinking a 20 foot birdie putt on the first hole. I swear, it's like the 4th tournament in a row where I've holed a putt over 20 feet on the very first hole of the first round of a tournament!  Its funny how it takes me 10 tries to hole that long of a putt on the practice green but for some reason on the course, I tend to hole those kinds of putts at a considerably higher rate.  Off to a birdie start!

Allow me to take you on a roller coaster ride alright? So I start off with a birdie, then… bogey, birdie, triple bogey!!!, par, birdie, birdie, bogey, par.  That was my front 9. 4 birdies, 2 bogeys, 1 triple for a 1 over 37.  On the back 9, I made par on the first 4, then on the 14^th, I hit this amazing punch shot underneath and between the trees from about 140 yards to 12 feet and then went on to convert the birdie.  After a bogey on 15, I made birdie on 16 from the other fairway hitting it over the trees and onto the green to about 15 feet.  Finally, to cap it off, I made birdie on the final hole, 195 yards playing downwind. I hit a 6 iron and then holed the 15 footer for my 7^th and final birdie of the day.

A wild round of 71 puts me right in the hunt as I trail Zanie Boy Gialon, Champions Tour player Frankie Minoza, and Robert Pactolerin by 3 shots.  Tomorrow’s another day.  I just need to find a little more consistency for the long game and I think I’ll be just fine.  Goodnight!