Written: December 23, 2010
Hey ya’ll! A few days have passed since the completion of the Philippine Open. I wasn’t quite in the mood to write about the ending of the final round on Saturday, (Dec. 18) after going double bogey, bogey, bogey to finish at +3 for the tournament in 72 holes. Apart from that, the whole tournament was actually a great experience. Playing in my first Philippine Open, my game was solid for most of the tournament. The first two rounds of 71-73 put me in position for the final two rounds as I was only 6 off the lead.
On the third round, I got the opportunity to play with two of my past idols: Robert Pactolerin and Artemio Murakami, both of whom are very accomplished players on the pro circuit. For the most part, I held my own against the two and managed to creep up a few spots on the leaderboard with a one under 71 but not in the fashion they did as Temyo shot 65 and Pacto shot 69. It was definitely a worthwhile experience and an entertaining group to watch as noted by Tito Dading and Tito Yeyo who came out to watch the entire round.
Starting the day 13th place and just one outside the top 10, I knew I had another chance not really to win but sneak up a good finish. Signs of a strong finish quickly escalated after having my best warm up session of all the days. However as we know in golf, warm up sessions whether excellent or poor, have little direct effect on scores. Either way, it gave me a lot more confidence heading onto the first tee. With a solid drive and a par to start it off, I thought things were going to be perfect. However, immediately on the second hole, luck turned against me when my ball hit a tree off the tee and bounced 50 yards back and left deep into the woods. That resulted in a triple bogey. Yet for some reason, maturity perhaps as some would call it, I did not get upset. I stayed confident knowing that as good as I was hitting it that day, I would easily get it back to even par. By the 12th hole, I made my third birdie to get back to even par. Then, the last three holes of the tournament came along and one little mistake after the other saw me limping home: Double Bogey, Bogey, Bogey. Ouch. I finished the round with 76.
4 Day total: 71-73-71-76=291, 3 over par. Artemio Murakami took home the trophy shooting weekend rounds of 65-68. That’s the way to finish a tournament!
My total may have dropped me down probably between 20th and 30th place. Oh well, finishes like that are sometimes unavoidable. Just gotta be ready to bounce back when the opportunity comes knocking again.
So much to look forward to for the holidays! Time with the family (they came home Dec 20th and are staying ‘till Dec 31st) for the most part. ‘Till next year, take care! Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
 |
| Hotel Room for a night |
 |
| Swinging away on the 9th |
 |
| 3rd Round playing with Murakami |
 |
| Tonyt Fernando, played with him on the last round |
 |
| Pactolerin |
 |
| Tito Yeyo and Tito Dading came out to watch |
 |
| Ton, Me, and Brent |
 |
| 3rd round scores |
 |
| Super helpful the entire week: Nilo |
 |
| Final Round, crowd gathering around the 18th |
No comments:
Post a Comment