Written: March 18, 2011
It’s the end of the qualifying rounds and now I can finally take a breather. Over the past two days, I, along with my ICTSI amateur teammates Dante Becierra, Erwin Madrileno, and Chuck Hong were subjected to a 54 hole qualifier to determine whether we could get our touring license to play as a professional golfer in the Philippines.
The dates for this event: March 17-18, 2011. 36 holes the first day then 18 holes the following day to be played in our home course, The Country Club.
Akin to the playing ability test given to would-be teaching pros in the United States, we were given a standard to be met. Much like an exam with a predetermined passing score, the required target was 9 over or better for 54 holes. You’d think this benchmark should be no problem at all to aspiring pros who play golf full time. This 9 over target is universal to all players in all courses.
Even though we were playing our home course of The Country Club, dealing with the 30 mph winds all 3 rounds was the biggest challenge. The winning score in the pros, Angelo Que, who took home 1.4 million pesos for the event, had a 4 day total of 6 over par! That’s how difficult country club plays with its monster length and strong winds. The only reprieve: moving it from a par 70 to a par 72. Alright, fine.
In the morning 18, I got off to a solid start shooting an even par 72. The afternoon was a bit more difficult. Cruising along at 1 over par after 8 holes, I ran into deep trouble on the 18th hole and made a quadruple bogey. 5 over after 27 holes and all of a sudden, that 9 over benchmark score was creeping on my mind. Luckily, I managed to hold it together for an even par back nine despite mighty strong wind gusts to shoot a 77.
It was a bit difficult to sleep comfortably that evening with lingering thoughts about the consequences of not making it through qualifying. The next time you could attempt to qualify would be in June and by that time, I would have missed almost half the ICTSI pro tournaments for the season already. Not to mention, I’m still awaiting word about whether ICTSI will sponsor me as a pro. How could they put me up for consideration if I didn’t even attain my TPGA license?
A lot of worries but I knew there was just one way to settle this: take away those worries and play the golf you’re capable of. Despite the 30 mph winds the last day, I put on one of the best displays. Managed my game well, executed, and made some putts. After going 2 under through my first 3 holes, I knew I had it in the bag. With the comfort of my game, I added on the birdies to finish with a 4 under, 68.
Three round total of 1 over, 217 was well inside the cut. A lot of steps ahead to get the pro license and a lot of question marks about the future but man, what a moral victory that was to pull through and complete the challenge.
Stay tuned and more updates to come!
No comments:
Post a Comment