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•    Rocco Mediate Succumbed to Seduction!
•    Golf in the Philippines
•    Smile, and the Trophy will be Yours!
•    Golf Par Excellence
•    San Fernando: A Clipse of Golf History in the Philippines

June 2008 Chiangmai: Rocco Mediate said after his third round that to be paired with Tiger for the final round was his wish. It didn't happen exactly that way but the magic touch of Tiger Woods on Sunday did make Rocco's wish a reality on Monday, with an extra hole thrown in as well!

The final score on Sunday forced an 18-hole playoff between the two to be played the following day. A major golf site quickly predicted it would be an anti-climatic 'fizzle'. Well, if you'd followed what happened during the 19 holes, you just might be out of a definition in that if you'd missed the unlikely and certainly memorable final putt by Tiger on the last hole on Sunday, you could witness a replay of the same magic again on the 18th. of the playoff! And, both were 'life and death' putts as far as the tournament was concerned for Woods. It only happens on golf instruction videos, did you say? Well, not for no reasons, Woods described it as the greatest victory he'd had so far.

But did they pit against each other during the playoff?

If you look back, Tiger was on his own to prove once again he was the ultimate magician of golf, and the result proved beyond doubt. Rocco was rather on a different plane of a battle ground. Likable as he was, he should have been himself - a professional golfer playing for winning the tournament. And for all his capabilities, he should have sealed it on the 17th. on Sunday on an easy putt that would have given him two clear of Tiger and Lee Westwood and not succumbed to the seduction of the crowd for the underdogs, albeit it would have been an anti-climax though for us all if that happened! If you recall, it happened to a few others in a similar situation as Rocco - suddenly finding himself in a psychological unpreparedness and under the spotlight with the favourite - and they all wilted. Responding to the roaring crowd by waving back and continuously having eye-to-eye contacts acknowledging cheers only split concentration. Heaven can wait, at least till after the last putt for the politeness, surely.

If you notice, when Tiger Woods plays, no one comes to watch, and there aren't a single spectator in sight! No? Woods' facial expression (or the absence of it) tells it all!

January 2008 Manila: The analysis of the value chain can be split into 4 broad dimensions namely - P O T FIN. These are - Product, Organization, Technology and FINance.

This article tackles an instance of the 'Organization' dimension of the value chain and how it would lead to reduced costs hence greater profits, increased market share, better product development and how all these lead to better value for consumers. The story is weaved around a live example of coopetition (competition + cooperation) as an emerging new form of organizational structure in the golf industry in the Philippines.

As known, in a congested market place, a price war never creates economic value for the supply side, though we may say that it does in fair measures for the demand side. In the Philippines many golf directors and managers, who are the decision makers in a golf club, have opted to cooperate instead of undermining each other's profits by a raging price war.

As a result of this, an industry structure was visualized, the history of which is beyond the scope of this article, as a result of increased influx of golf tourists, especially Koreans, to the Philippines. The structure is called GMAP (Golf Managers Association of the Philippines). To attract the incoming guests, the clubs, in a bid to attract the most number of people, were indulging in predatory pricing, at times bordering around break-even. As a result of this, the tourists were faced with two dilemmas: firstly, the feeling that they could have got a better deal; secondly the additional cost of dealing with multiple parties. As observed, no one gains and in a broader sense the perception of the country and the sport suffers along with the reduced foreign exchange being pumped into the economy.

The dynamics of this organization is such that when an offer from a contracting agent arrives, it is put on the table, in the open, for all the members to quote. This is sliced among all the members based on the requirements of the guests and the capabilities of the member courses. This is mutually agreed and the members then present this to their individual boards to take a decision. If a member prefers to opt out due to some constraints, the others are distributed the slice as per their capacity.

This has implications not only on the bottom lines of the participating clubs, but in a broader sense creates value not only for the visiting tourists but also for the image of the sport and the country in macro perspective. The tourists gain because they will be able to play in multiple golf courses without the hassle of dealing with multiple parties. They take back the pleasant perception of an organized and professionally run golf industry in the Philippines and thus recommend fellow countrymen. It's no wonder that Koreans are thronging the archipelago in plane-fulls! The supply side i.e. the golf courses also gain because the damage to their bottom line has been saved and they are assured of a continuing patronage.

This mechanism also acts like a check on erring GMAP members by way of isolating them from further transactions till they agree to maintain the rules and the decorum of the forum. It also acts like a good feedback loop because the client complaints are taken seriously and the members each act like pseudo policemen for each other. Hence they compete with the intention of cooperation. It's no wonder who will have the last laugh...the entire value chain!

About the Author:
Yash Makharia is writing his final thesis on the serious side of golf i.e. golf as an industry and its investment aspects, at the Asian Institute of Management in the Philippines. The views as expressed in this article are entirely his. GOLFnTours.com is grateful to Yash for his kind contributions and sincerely hopes that his valuable insight into golf in the Philippines will greatly benefit not only golfers at large but those who may have an interest in golf as an investment.

December 2007 Chiangmai: It seems all you need to win a golf tournament is to keep smiling all the way to the last putt, and that includes smiling at times of adversities and high pressure. Tough things to do with a smile?

But that's almost exactly what Juvic Pagunsan did during the entire Volvo Masters of Asia at the Thai Country Club, Bangkok this afternoon, 9 December, 2007.

Leading by 4 going into the final round and then more than losing it all in just the first nine would certainly not make a pleasurable Sunday golf for anyone, let alone one with a top price tag of $135,000! But if the secret weapon of this very skillful professional from the Philippines was the fast-becoming trademark smile he wears constantly on his face, it soon became clear after a couple of birdies from difficult positions finally found their way into his scorecard. Before mid-way on the home nine he had rollercoaster(ed) back on top of the leadership board. It was as if the constant smiling brought all the good things and overwhelmed all that's bad. It's as easy as that!

And, smile more he did as one after another contender, all but one just one shot behind and the exception a joint leader, succumbed to the pressure more than the afternoon heat of the Bangkok sun. Chris Rogers of England needed the last putt to keep afloat but missed the cup. Simon Yates of Scotland could not believe he misjudged on the approach third of the penultimate Par-5 seeing the ball going into the water. Scott Hend of New Zealand and Mark Brown of Australia fell a bit on the wayside a little earlier and never recovered.

But Pagunsan did not win finally. When it mattered most Pagunsan had delivered before; but that was in the Asian Tour he last won in October in Indonesia beating top players like Lee Westwood and some of the best in Asia. He did just the opposite this time: he missed the cup from a similar distance that otherwise would have kept his hope alive by going into a play-off.

It took no less than a quiet but superbly-playing Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand, who trailed all day with the pack and was at some point a joint leader on the board but never did become a serious challenge on his own until the last hole where a precious birdie ensured a play-off at least. Like Pagunsan, Marksaeng enjoyed no less a harrowing rollercoaster ride on this sunny final day if only the ride was a little smoother. A bogey on the back nine appeared to have ticked him off the list of contenders and later an apparent do-or-die attempt for a 2-on on Par-5 Hole#17 found water. A superb pitch shot from the lakeside to the hill-top green saved the day and that perhaps spurred greater inspiration leading to the birdie on the final hole which proved a $135,000-worth when he eventually won the tournament.

That's how the story ended. And if you haven't guessed it, Prayad Marksaeng was just about the only other player in the field with a constant smile on his face, come what may, throughout the entire play!

October 2007 Chiangmai: It's been a long time since I last followed play of weekend PGA tournaments anywhere, on course or live on television. I just did, and on two tournaments being played almost simultaneously. And, what a finish! If you missed it, I would like to share it with you.

Alternating between two different channels on television, it was hard trying not to miss some riveting putts here and an eagle there for the tournament.

First, it was Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines who came quietly from down the board on the final day of the Asian Tours' Pertamina Indonesia President Invitational being played at the Damai Indah Golf Club's BSD Course in Jakarta. With the young and up-and-coming Gaganjheet Bhullar of India at top of the leadership board, having finished and waiting anxiously in the club house, the diminutive Pagunsan, one stroke behind and the only man left with a chance to catch up, coolly...if you need the definition of 'all eyes are on you'...sank the eagle putt on the last and thus winning the tournament by one...

And within less than an hour or so, Suzanne Pettersen of Norway, having played superbly for the first three days going into the final of the Honda LPGA Thailand being played at the Old Course of the Siam Country Club in Pattaya with a 6-stroke lead, suddenly found herself struggling to maintain par. It took no less than the massive experience and the driving power of Laura Davies to put pressure on the young Norwegian all the way to the very last hole (deja vu?), where a slightly miss judged right on the decisive second shot of the par 5 last took it's toll on the English woman. Where Davies' 20-foot putt from the lip and over a ridge just missed the cup for an eagle to ensure a play-off at least if not winning it outright, Pettersen's 10-footer duly dropped into the hole triggering a sudden burst of cheers from the crowd and a double upper-cut punches from the latter celebrating in triumph!

Well, talking about nerves of steel, not since Phil Mickelson sank the last x0-foot putt to win his first major were there such exciting and nerve-wrecking finishes. With Tiger around, there's always good golf; but there are plenty of good golf too without him.

Poro Point June 2007: You may be an avid golfer who has travelled around in Southeast Asia and played in most of the known courses on the golf map. However, the chances are you would not have discovered this little course nestled on the coast facing the Luzon Sea, just about an hour or so drive west of Baguio City. To call it a non-descript would unfairly douse the enthusiasm of the many mostly local golfers who gather every late afternoon for the game; nonetheless it could have been passed off as just one of the many courses in the Philippines, built during the time of the American administration and now awaiting either an upgrade, if fortune has it, or a slow death from neglect and then become completely overwhelmed when a new and modern course gets built in the vicinity, except that Wallace Golf Club, the only club in the city of San Fernando, Province of La Union, is unique!

Built in 1975 primarily for the US Airborne Division stationed here, it is the only course with sand-green in the entire Philippines! Not to raise undue expectations, the Wallace course is actually a simple Par 36 2,600-yard course with Hole#1 starting from the thatched-roof club house some 300 yards away from the sea and curving along the coast before turning at the lighthouse back towards the club house. The Signature Hole - one takes the liberty to call it that - is Hole#4 Par 4 307-yard dog-leg right with a 265-yard straight hair-clipped by tall trees at the turn before the straight again to landing. Not exactly a piece of genius in the course design but even if you have the driving prowess you might still be well tested to make the green in two. Period.

Sipping cool lemon tea on a lazy sunny afternoon and looking over the driving range and the tee-off for Hole#1, it is hard to imagine anyone who could be excited over these course technicalities. You either play here or you don't. There are no other courses in the vicinity. But not so for Sixto Domenden, the 65 year-old grandpa resident pro, one of the two main architects involved in the building of Wallace. The other architect was his American Air Force colonel for whom, he recalled fondly, he often covered during the latter's secret rendezvous with his girl-friend.

Way back in Baguio City Sixto began his career in the golf course as a caddy. But he was no ordinary one unless you consider caddying for the infamously great President Marcos as an ordinary job on the course. When they first met, Marcos was only a Congressman. By the time he became President of the Philippines, Sixto was already firmly his personal caddy. As he noted, Marcos did not change a bit after becoming the President and that impressed him a lot. It was the great President who made sure that his golden words of 'always look back to where you came from before embarking further in your life' were firmly imprinted in the mind of the then young Sixto. For that Sixto remained grateful. Perhaps the saga of the Marcos' legacy could have become a little clearer and more easily resolved if everyone trusted the integrity of the great President as much as Sixto did: Marcos was a regular mean handicap 8, but his good card scores were never taken seriously by the media.

When the golden moment for the personal caddy to the President finally arrived, perhaps as a sign of him taking the President's words of wisdom in earnest, he chose to remain in golf instead of accepting a possibly more lucrative job of position or working abroad. Thus he became the Assistant Director of the Wallace Golf Club project with his American colonel as the chief.

Apart from the President, he also caddied for dignitaries. Among them was Singapore's former Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew who, as he vividly recalled, would always characteristically look up at the sun, open-mouthed, as if to draw inspiration from it before proceeding to set-up for the shot. When asked for the reason, the Prime Minister apparently told him that he drew energy from the act. One day according to Sixto, President Marcos confided to him that the Prime Minister was his mentor. However it wasn't exactly clear that whether such a ritual of Mr. Lee had in any way decidedly influenced the President to regard the latter his mentor, notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Lee is now, perhaps coincidentally or as the result of a strange sequence of events or for the diplomatic golfer in the Prime Minister or the other way round, a Minister Mentor in the cabinet of the Singapore Government!

Sixto (pic) also caddied for the late Dr. Christian Bernard, the renowned surgeon who performed the first heart implant operation in 1967. He remembered Dr. Bernard as, understandably, being more concerned with his delicate fingers for surgery than for a more robust grip of fellow countryman Ernie Els'. But, if there's a feather in the cap that old Sixto would gladly anecdote, it would be that he clinic-coached Christina Kim for two months at the Mimosa Club in Clark Field. Then, young Kim was preparing to qualify for the LPGA card. Before going back to South Korea to do her regional qualifying, she gave Sixto his first ever cell phone for them to stay in touch. As it turned out according to Sixto, on at least two occasions, young Kim called him during play to ask for advice. The rest, as they say, is history. Ms Christina Kim duly qualified and is now a big name in LPGA. For Sixto, the same cell phone remains in his possession despite failing batteries and a long expired shelf-life of the phone itself. For him, it just might ring again and when it does, it can only be for the big time!

Meanwhile, the Junior Golfers' Programme started by Sixto to produce new young talents continues in this most unassuming course of Wallace Golf Club, although as he has often wondered, for how much longer? In retro, it is not as if he hasn't done enough for golf in the Philippines by first becoming a caddy, then winning the National Caddies' Tournament of the Philippines and then representing the nation in the Putra Cup (a regional Southeast Asia Inter-national Team Tournament) which his team won with no small contribution of his top 10 finish in the individuals. The pinnacle of his career was being the personal caddy to the great President following which was his illustrious involvement in the building of Wallace. Sixto has in fact come full circle and should be able now to look back with pride and satisfaction at Wallace today.

But, nearby, where the Casino is, the landscape has lately been irreversibly unearthed. In about six months' time, a modern 18-hole course will be ready to complement the Casino with mod-cons that Wallace can only dream of. What of Wallace after that? The committee has, albeit reluctantly, decided that progress shall be the way to go and the sand-green shall be turfed, just like everywhere else! Deep down, in the fading light of the evening sun there's sadness evident through the smudged metal-rimmed glasses on the well-weathered face of the creator of the Wallace Golf Club. Looking over the sand-green of the last hole in the direction of the lighthouse, there is no doubt in his mind, when the virgin turf finally surfaces in six months' time, a piece of the colourful history of golf in the Philippines will not only be silently but surely concealed and lost forever! Will Sixto remain? Why not, even if it is only for the reason that putting will now become less strenuous! There's so much that he can now look back on and be proud of, and not least to pass on the story of the origin of golf in San Fernando lest it be so easily forgotten beneath the skin-deep turf of the new green. Yes, I shall remain, just like Christina Kim, watch your telly, never fails to aim her put a little beyond the hole, he assured me!

Post script note:
GOLFnTours.com chanced upon Mr. Sixto Domenden (pic) at Wallace Golf Club while net-working in the Philippines to bring the country into its golf tours destination map and also to promote in general the business of GOLFnTours.com. If you find the article interesting you might like to find out more about golf in the Philippines. GOLFnTours.com would be happy to tailor a package for you there or to any other hot golf destinations in Southeast Asia.