ONE team is out to prove that its victory last year wasn’t a fluke.
Another is hell-bent on redemption after yielding the crown deemed secured even before the first tee shot was fired.
That seems to be the obvious scenario when the PAL (Philippine Airlines) Interclub Men’s championship gets going on March 4 in Bacolod City.
Cebu Country Club was never given even an iota of hope to win in Cebu last year as it was relegated at the lower-ranked Founders Division at the start of play.
But when the smoke of battle cleared, the Cebuanos found themselves champions of the 72nd edition of the nation’s team golf championship before eyes too unbelieving to witness their coronation.
But in fairness, Cebu CC displayed sterling team cohesion, playing impeccable shot-making virtually all week as it parlayed its course familiarity into a victory that even pundits thought would not happen.
So devastating was CCC’s performance that Manila Southwoods’s “five-peat” bid got horribly quashed in a major upset, triggering a team overhaul from the vanquished captain of 2019.
“Veteran presence was what we lacked last year,” said Thirdy Escano, the captain who had architected Southwoods’s four-year winning streak.
This year, Escano has recalled Vince Lauron, the former pro who was part of Southwoods’s many successes, both at PAL Interclub and the Fil-Am Invitational in Baguio.
Lauron will rejoin his buddy, Jun Jun Plana, as Escano hopes to use the duo as anchor in rebuilding a “lost empire.”
“For us, it’s like we’re starting over again,” said Escano. “Our players know what it is we missed last year.”
Southwoods’s youth-laden squad include Yuto Katsuragawa, the Japanese shotmaker, and former junior world champion Kristoffer Arevalo. Joining them are Jeff Jun, Sean Ramos, Josh Jorge, Masaichi Otake, Santino Laurel and Aguri Iwasaki. Iwasaki is set to join the qualifiers for the Asian Tour after the tournament.
Escano swears he has a mission not that easy to achieve, but he sounds unfazed—as always.
“We are going all out to get the first of another streak,” he said.
The tournament will be preceded by the PAL Seniors Interclub that tees off on February 27, also at Bacolod’s Marapara and Binitin in nearby Murcia town.
It will be followed by the PAL Media March 2 and 3, a battle that is as action-packed as the other two tournaments, featuring practically all the nation’s sportswriters covering both events.
Even the working class dudes deserve a break.
THAT’S IT The PAL Interclub’s platinum sponsors this year are Asian Air Safari, Vanguard Radio Network, Fox Networks Group and Radio Mindanao Network Inc. The major sponsors are Boeing, UM Broadcasting Network, Avolon Aerospace Singapore Pte. Ltd., Rolls Royce, Manila Broadcasting Company, Primax, Rolls Royce Singapore and Cignal TV. Other supporters are Uniglobe (The Travel Club), Officine Corp., GE Aviation, Seda Hotels, BDO Unibank, Smart Communications, People Asia Magazine, A+E Networks and Allianz PNB Life…Condolences go to Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner Willie Marcial, whose father, Dr. Rogelio Marcial, had passed on at 83, leaving behind a philanthropy-based legacy. Wake is at Trinity Mortuary Chapel, Pallocan West, Batangas City. Inurnment is on February 21. May his soul rest in peace.