I wanted to start of this review by listing all the things the GolfSense can do. I then went back and changed this to reflect something the GolfSense cannot do. Probably, the only knock on an otherwise excellent product.
If you are not using iOS/Android 3.1 and above or do not have access to hardware using the 2 dominant Mobile OSs, GolfSense will not work for you. Like me, an early and zealous Windows Phone adopter, this product was a no-go. My wife uses a phone which was used by Churchill to command the English troops in WWII. Enough said!! A trip to my neighbor ensued and an iPad was commandeered.
There are 2 aspects to this product. The actual product, which is a small “rounded rectangle”, and the software which runs this product.

The Unboxing

The box looks decent and not cheap.

This is the actual device in its cradle.

Installation

Download the GolfSense app from the AppStore/Google PlayStore and follow the onscreen instructions when you run the app for the first time. It is as easy as that.

Setting up the device

The device has a rubber strip on the back which fits around the velcro strap of your glove. Another small admission (I am one of the few golfers who does not use a glove so I had to rummage for one in the bag). The device itself weights only 17 grams which is very light so I don’t think it will interfere with your swing. It is a snug fit against your glove so no issues with the device moving around while swinging. I went through 4 buckets of balls and never once did it threaten to shake loose. I would not venture to say that I did not feel anything but it was not uncomfortable. I had expected the device to go flying over the range but it remained firmly ensconced on the glove throughout.

One this is accomplished, you are set to go. For the technically challenged, here are the steps one more time.

• Download software
• Follow the onscreen instructions
• Strap the device to your glove
• Double-click the button on the device
• The device will calibrate
• You are set
• Yes, you need to charge the device through a USB charger (provided)

If this proves tough, each device comes with an instruction manual that has clear illustrations of each step you need to follow. Remember to keep your phone no more than 4-6 feet away from the device. Bluetooth technology can be pretty finicky!!
Before you start swinging a club, you get to individually pick what club you are going to be using. This feature is a god-send for those who want to keep tabs on which clubs you swing well and which ones you don’t. This could help you focus on certain clubs and improve your shot making with them. Your choices are Driver, 3w, 5w, hybrid, 3-PW, AW, SW. Almost every club in the bag.

The product and the software driving it

The app is surprisingly packed with information, yet easy to use. According to the website, GolfSense can detect the acceleration, velocity, tempo, position and posture of the device and the club by calculating sensor data at sample rates over 1,000 times per second. Using GolfSense Cloud Sync technology, your swing history is easily accessible on any iOS or Android enabled device. By logging into your user account, you’ll be able to sync your history to the cloud as long as you have an active internet connection.
What they tout as a high velocity motion engine inside the software, breaks up your swing into different segments of club position and posture. The result is a highly accurate view of your swing, down to the millisecond.

Once you start swinging the GolfSense your swing is captured immediately on your cellphone/tablet. You can review a ‘head on’ view of your swing; side view, down swing view, back swing view, and a swing plane view so it is basically a 3 dimensional look at your swing. This device measures your swing path, swing angle and also your swing speed. Once I found that I was only swinging my driver at 100mph, I tried my best to start swinging harder. Things got out of hand pretty quickly and I had to dial back to a more manageable 95-100mph zone where I found I was more consistent. The reason I mention this is to highlight how this device helped me find my optimal swing speed.

The coolest feature of this device (for me) was plane comparison. It basically tells you your backswing and downswing planes and how closely matched the two are. It was exposed to me by accident, I was trying to compare two different swings I had made with my 4 iron and I found what I did wrong.
My first swing I made at 80mph (your Driver vs. Iron swing speed is typically a 5:4 ratio) and I hit the ball pretty sweet. I managed to hit 87mph on my second swing but the ball shot off to the right. I immediately went in and checked the plane comparison and found that in my second shot, my plane comparison score was only 23% as compared to 62% on the first one. It also depicts if you have an out-to-in swing or in-to-out swing and whether you managed to maintain the correct club path.

Also, my swing tempo ratio was off. Typically, the pros have a 3:1 ratio. For example, if your backswing takes 0.9 seconds, your downswing should only take 0.3 seconds. This is considered an ideal ratio. Average players can be around 2.1: 1 and still make good contact. If the ratio is too low, then you know you have a jerky backswing or are trying to be too aggressive with your downswing. I was taking my club back too fast and bringing it back equally fast, a recipe for disaster.

The ‘phone in pocket’ feature measures hip rotation and lateral translation of weight through your swing. This feature sounded good to me but I had no idea of how they impacted my game, till I took it to my coach who explained it to me. Another feature that I found incredibly useful was the ‘impact detection’ feature. When this feature is activated, GolfSense doesn’t record your practice swings and only records a swing when you hit a ball. You do not need to manually determine which swings were practice swings and which ones were actual hits. The sensor on the GolfSense is pretty sensitive. I guess it measures the vibrations when the clubhead hits the ball and is able to capture that as a ‘hit’.

There are a lot of other features the device has which only a coach can decipher but if you are a golf-junkie who understands what ‘wrist-release’ of 1005 degrees means then all power to you. You are given a lot of data to work with but it never gets to a point where you feel inundated with needless information.

Does it work?

Unequivocally yes. I would not venture to call it a resounding success but it is one of the best products on the market and for USD 129, you cannot go wrong. This is around PhP 6000 in local currency. A good deal if you are one of those golfers who like to control each aspect of your swing. What if you are one of those golfers who just want to go to the range and hack away? Well, let me tell you, this product will only help you get better. How, you ask?

Let me paint a picture so please persevere. You find yourself on the range hitting ball after ball. Some go straight, some go right, and others go left. You ask the ball-girl to video you on your Smartphone and she does. You review a good swing and a bad one. How do you know what you did right? Was your backswing optimal, was your spine angle optimal, and was your ball placement correct? Can you even compare both swings real-time, at the range, instead of going back home and using software to superimpose both videos and find out what you did right? Well, with GolfSense you can. If you are a frustrated golfer, a good golfer, a better player, this product will help you find out what’s wrong but only if you know how to decipher the numbers thrown at you. It does not have a putting feature but I assume you are not in the market for a device like this to improve your putting. If you are, then there are other options available. If you are in the market for a device that gives you manageable data in an easy to interpret form, then you better look at GolfSense or you will be doing yourself a disservice. Oh! Don’t forget to return the borrowed iPad once you are done with this product.

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Product Review: 3BaysGSA PRO – Golf Swing Analyzer

August 4, 2013, 11:58 pm

≫ Next: Ready, Set, Golf: The 18th Philippine International Golf Show 2013

≪ Previous: GolfSense 3D Golf Swing Analyzer – Now in the Philippines

I was supposed to turn in this review a few days before I actually did. I took my own sweet time to understand why I liked this so much. I really did like this. It’s like the quirky girl you meet at one of the parties and you decide that she is actually quite nice. It starts off with different expectations and then you realise (after a few hours) that both of you are actually quite compatible and looking for the same thing.

Genesis Chapter 1, verse 1:

“Thou need an iPad or an iPhone”. I repeated this line around a 1,000 times, since the GSA model I had only worked with the iPhone/iPad. I did not get the Android version. A windows phone version is not even being discussed. Sorry, a Blackberry? What’s that? With 90% of the Smartphone owning public toting Android or Apple phones the 3 Bays team have the spread virtually covered. For all you non-believers, who won’t take my word for how cool this device is, check out YouTube for a video of Martin Chuck (Inventor of Tour Striker) who mentions that the numbers from this device are very close to numbers from trackman!)

So, what is the 3 bays GSA?

First up, the Pro version only works with our irons and woods. There is a separate Putt version that works for putters. It’s a small device around 9.8 grams that sticks in to the end of your club and measure various aspects of your swing.

Feature Overview:

• Plugs in to the butt end of your grip
• Weight: Practically nothing (weights 9.8 grams).
• Front and Side swing arc animation for instant playback of your swing
• Measures and displays swing information including Club Head Speed, Face Angle, Tempo, Swing Path, Impact Force, and Consistency
• You can compare your swing with earlier ones or compare it to the pre-installed swings of some of their pros.
• Enables sharing of your swing on Facebook, Twitter or via Email ( I don’t have Facebook or Twitter but email worked)
• App available for download from the App store or Google Play Store
• Cheap

Before getting into the review, I thought I would break this down into an easy to read section. I will now attempt to give you some pros and quirks of this device (remember, no relationship is 100% smooth). This is golf and its serious stuff. God knows how many hours we pour into tweaking our swing when all we need is for someone to show us how and what to tweak. This device does just that and it does it pretty well. No more running out to buy books on how not to sway, how to keep that foot planted. Maybe, all you needed was to understand that your swing was outside to in.

Pros:

• It’s not a trackman. Don’t expect to get trackman like quality for PhP 8,000 but it comes pretty darn close.
• It is well worth the PhP 8,000
• It is very portable, I kept expecting it to fall off the club but it was immovable.
• You can hit foam balls, or Birdie Balls, practise balls at home so that you can see your ball flight and then compare your analyzed swing data. No footballs please and don’t ask me why!! Just no.

Cons:

• Do you know how to pair a Bluetooth device? Yes, then move on please. No? Then please go to their website to look for instructions. Note# Start the App after you put the device in discover mode.
• It does not tell you how much open or how much closed your impact was. It simply says “open” or “closed” or “square”.

Things of Note:

When hitting real balls, check the device to make sure the alignment has not changed and that the device is still firmly aligned to the butt-end of your club. Your hands may touch the device and it may come loose.

Still with me? Good. Let’s proceed to the meat:

I used this device on the driving range and then used it on the course and then again back to the driving range. I finished off a couple of buckets at the range and then went to the course. An easy 9 hole rampage. It’s so easy to use and setup that I barely noticed any delay in my round. If I hit a bad shot, I immediately went back for feedback and then corrected for my next shot. No, I did not shoot under par but that’s not due to the device. It’s my damn clubs, always the clubs. Well, I did swing outside to in but that’s not my fault. It was the wind, I swear.

It’s so cheap and the amount of information you get from it is mind boggling. You probably have a few drivers and clubs that you don’t even use, well, this is cheaper than one of the latest drivers you bought and don’t use anymore. Plus, this will last you longer and serve you better than that driver. That will teach you to spend money on stuff you don’t need!! As with any other device of this kind, you need to know what do to with the results. Swinging outside to in? Swing more around your body, feel your arms closer to your body and working in sync. Ball not travelling far, maybe there was no optimal contact.

It showed me carrying my 7-iron around 155-160. That is about right and I think it’s pretty much accurate on that front. You can even store a number of swings per club, which allows you to see the progress you make. Not sure how much memory this uses but I did not notice any complaints from the iPad I used.

It also enable hands free recording for multiple swings. You can even trim your video down to only analyse the swing footage. There is even a cool line drawing tool (The kind they use on NBC when breaking down a Pro’s swing). You know if you maintain that triangle with your arms and whether your spine angle changed during the swing. Quite cool. My baby thought it was funny to see daddy drawing squiggly lines on the phone like he does. It took me a while to convince him that I did not want to share his milk bottle and that I was not a kindred soul.

This baby is packed with a gyroscope and accelerometer that can collect an amazing 10,000 points of data during your swing, which is a frankly amazing. They can display things like Club Head Speed, Tempo, Swing Path, Face angle, Impact Force (Very Star Wars!!), Attainable Shot Distance, Attainable Ball Speed, Down Swing Time, Back swing Time.

My primary motive was to measure tempo and swing speed. It reported 80mph for my 6 iron and around 103mph for my driver. I think it was about right on both counts. It displays a graphical representation of swing path and will replay it in real time or slow motion. You can see it from the front or side view.

Are you one of those who have a problem with swaying during your swing? 3 Bays will break it down for you. When you compare your best and worst swings it can throw up a lot of interesting information which you would not know without it being captured. I noticed that for one of my 6 iron swings, the arc of the club was a fair bit wider than for my best swing when I looked at them from the front view. I imagine I swayed a bit during that swing. I immediately went back and tried to fix it the next few swings.

All in all, I was impressed with this product. It does what high-end competing products do at a fraction of the price. Is it perfect, probably not but it is something that I want Santa to get me for Christmas. It’s interesting, says the right stuff, does not get in the way, cheap, does not take long to charge and holds a charge pretty well, looks pretty neat and presentable.

Like that quirky girl I met at the party. She was quite nice.

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Ready, Set, Golf: The 18th Philippine International Golf Show 2013

August 6, 2013, 2:17 am

≫ Next: Course Review: Eagle Ridge Golf & CC – Dye Course

≪ Previous: Product Review: 3BaysGSA PRO – Golf Swing Analyzer

This year, the Golf Distributors Association of the Philippines will once again gather all golf aficionados, business executives and social leaders to witness and be part of another milestone in the golfing industry
as they hold the 18th Philippine International Golf Show on September 20-22, 2013.

It will be a three-day celebration of style, strength and power at the SMX Convention Center, the country’s largest exhibition and convention facility located in the SM Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City. The exhibition will showcase various golf suppliers, distributors and service providers who have made the golf industry in the Philippines more than just a fun experience in the last 17 years.

Sen. JV Ejercito and former Congressman Mat Defensor graced the opening of last year’s International Golf Show

For this year’s show, the Golf Distributors’ Association of the Philippines, Inc. (GDAP) appoints anew Tradex Specialist as event manager. Shown signing the appointment papers are: (seated from left) Larissa Lynn Eva, Tradex Project Director; Armert Besa, GDAP President and Bon Roberto, GDAP 18 Philippine International Golf Show Chairman. Looking on are; (standing from left) Atty. Patricia Narajos, GDAP Legal Counsel; Ronand Malco,Tradex Project Officer; Raymund Atendido, VP for Turf; Randy Rana, VP for Equipment & Accessories; Bap Fugoso, Summer Golf Show Chairman; Dulce Tabernilla GDAP Secretary and Keithleen Ross Eva, Tradex Project Officer.

There would surely be a lot of things to look forward to in this year’s International Golf Show, especially with the introduction of a wider range of products and services that the GDAP members and partners have to offer, particularly:

Thanks to our members and business partners, you’ll never run out of booths to visit!

The biggest names in the Philippine golf industry are expected to grace the event. Golf Professionals, Celebrities and Golf Club Owners will also be attending the exhibition. There will also be various event activities that everyone, regardless of age and skill level, will definitely enjoy.

Golf lovers excitedly line up to register for the exhibition

Mark your calendars and don’t miss this once in a year opportunity to participate in GDAP’s International Golf Show. Do business, meet other people, have fun and celebrate your passion for golf all at the same time. For more information, you may contact them at (02) 584.8317 or their event manager Tradex Specialist at (02) 438.1848 | (02) 995.8296. You may also send an email at gdap.golfshow@yahoo.com or tradex.specialist@yahoo.com

The golf show is presented in cooperation with PETRON.
Official Media partners are: Solar Sports and Solar News, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Crossover 105.1 FM,
GolfPH, Golf Mix
Official Lights and Sounds System: WAV Audio Group
Official Registration Partner: BCS Computers & Technologies,
This event is also sponsored by: ROGIN-E, VIA MARE, LIPTON ICE TEA
Special Thanks to Capitol Hills Golf & Country Club!

↧

Course Review: Eagle Ridge Golf & CC – Dye Course

August 14, 2013, 7:10 pm

≫ Next: Course Review: The Riviera Golf & CC – Couples Course and Langer Course

≪ Previous: Ready, Set, Golf: The 18th Philippine International Golf Show 2013

One of the largest golfing facilities in the Philippines, it takes pride of place in having not 1 or 2 courses but 4 championship level courses made by 4 legends of the game.

• Aoki
• Norman
• Faldo
• Andy Dye

For the purpose of this review, we will talk about the ‘Beast of the East’, the Andy Dye creation. For the uninitiated, there have been a lot of eulogies read before and after a round. This course will knock you down and keep pounding away till you surrender and then smack you down one more time, for bad luck!! Often mentioned phrases include, “I almost Dye’d today”. “Dye another Day”, “Live and let Dye”. I dare to challenge anyone who does not consider this course a test of your golfing mettle. It has a course rating of 74.4 and a slope of 141. Consider this against the US Open Championship, which was hosted at Merion East, which has a course rating of 72.9 and a slope of 144. The slope rating of a golf course is a measure of its difficulty for bogey golfers. The term comes from the fact that when playing on more difficult courses, players’ scores will rise more quickly than their handicaps would predict.

You will be sharing a clubhouse with the Faldo and Norman courses. The Dye clubhouse has not been in use for some time now, presumably due to the costs of maintaining multiple clubhouses. The clubhouse has your standard fare of food and drinks that you can avail of. Best to stock up before you start since you will need all the energy you can muster. The course has a lot of elevation changes and forced carries on quite a few holes. It is best to get a golf cart than walk it.

We teed off at 8:00 AM from the 7th hole. Due to the clubhouses being shared, all flights must tee off from the 7th. The 7th is a deceptive hole. Your tee shot must carry 190 yards to the fairway. After that, all you have left is a routine pitching wedge to the green. There is danger on the right of the green in the form of a deep ravine. The 8th hole is a par 3 around 160 yards. Best to take 1 club less as the green sits below the tee box and the wind is usually from the back towards the green. There are big bunkers guarding the left of the green and an unusually steep drop to another bunker on the right.

If you do get your ball into the bunker on the left or right then pray, hard!! They are pretty deep bunkers and are characteristic of a course that has water on only 1 hole. Andy Dye does not need water to make a course tough. It is a testament to his design here that he used the lay of the land to add difficulty to this course along with diabolically placed sand traps.

The 9th is a par 5 measuring 500 yards from the blue tees. The fairway is wide and inviting and the challenge will come with the second shot. There is a ravine that bisects the fairway and the green at around 100 yards to the green. It is advisable to lay-up and hit a pitching wedge into a green which is peppered with bunkers all around. Do not end up short of the green or you will face tough sand shot from a bunker that is 15 feet deep with a steep lip to the green. The sand in the bunker is hard and coarse and since it had rained a few hours before I had teed off, the sand was unyielding. Let’s skip the part of how many shots it took me to get out of that hell hole. Get out I did and we moved to the 10th which is an interesting hole. It is only 320 yards in length but has a unique feature. There is a bunker around 180 yards down the fairway that rises up like a volcano.

The fairway slopes to the right so you play your second shot from below the feet. If you are a confident sort, then try and hit it over the bunker around 220 yards and you will find yourself next to another bunker with an easy pitch to the green.

11th is just a brutal par 5 with a dogleg right. The green actually sits below the fairway and has deep bunkers on the left which can catch an errant shot. If you do manage to miss the bunkers on the left, chances are your shot might just roll down to the green which slopes heavily to the right. 12th is a routine par 3 which will give you a good chance of a birdie. The 14th is a long par 4 at 440 yards. The defining feature of this hole is that the fairway runs off diagonally to the left and you have to carry your tee-shot 200 yards over water. If the wind is against you, better get ready to give it a right heave. The fairway is slightly uphill with a volcano shaped bunker guarding the front left of the green. The 15th is another long par 4 at 468 yards. Nothing special, just long, too long for a weekend player. The 18th is another long par 4 at 455 yards. The fairway narrows as you approach the green and it requires 2 good shots to hit the green in regulation.

Hole 1 is a another par 4 over 400 yards (It would be considered a tough opening hole but for the fact that everyone now tees off on the 7th for reasons I mentioned above) which doglegs to the left. Aim to the right off the tee box since there is a deep recess towards the left side of the fairway. There are also bunkers guarding the left of the green so it’s better to stay right. Hole 2 gives you some respite with its length but with a bunker running all along the right of the fairway you cannot afford to miss right. There is also a strategically placed bunker on the left of the fairway and an easy hybrid should get you in position for a shot at the green. The green is like an oasis in the middle of a desert with sand on 3 sides. If you do miss, miss long (or hit long).

Hole 3 is oddly judged as a Handicap 17 and the second easiest hole on the course!! It’s a Par 3 at 228 yards. How easy is that? Oh well, no one plays a Dye course expecting it to be easy so why am I complaining? The wind that day was blowing all over and I had a tough time deciding which club to use. I settled for a 3 wood and laid into it. I missed left and found myself in thick rough. I managed to get out fine and settled for a bogey 4. The 4th is handicap 1 and the shortest Par 5 on the course. If you miss right from the tee, it may be difficult for you to see the green due to a bunker framing the green (Remember the fondness for tall volcano shaped bunkers). The green is small and has 2 deep bunkers waiting to catch that slightly misjudged shot. Hole 5 is a par 4 with a blind tee shot to a fairway that sits well above the tee box. There is a tall antenna in the distance that acts as your target. The fairway is wide and inviting so fire away. If you think the finishing hole is easy, think again. It is the longest par 4 on the course and just a wee bit shorter than the par 5 4th hole. It is 465 yards in length but straight and flat. The length is the only consideration here. We finished our 18 holes in around 4 hours (not too bad for a foursome).

The facilities at Eagle Ridge ensure that you can have a fun filled weekend with the family: Golf for dads/moms, a Family and Sports clubhouse for the kids, badminton, bowling and even movies. They even have a resort-style swimming pool. Microtel Inn and Suites also have a 60-room hotel within the premises. The location is around 56 Kms from Makati with Tagaytay around 30 minutes away. Take the Carmona exit when you come down from the SLEX, go along the Governor’s drive road till you pass SM Dasmarinas on your right. Around 5 minutes from there, you will see a McDonald’s, that’s your cue to turn left and carry on for another few kilometres, till you see Microtel on your right. Turn in and proceed to the clubhouse. There are cleared marked direction boards to guide you.

If you get a chance to play any of its courses, you won’t be disappointed. If you play Andy Dye, you may come away with an empty feeling of “what the hell did I just go through”. That course is a tough and brutal test of your golfing mettle. I learned a lot on the course today: ‘don’t try to be heroic. You cannot carry a 200 yard 5 wood over a ravine and into a green guarded by 20 foot bunkers without ending up with egg on your face”. “Don’t try to fight the course, learn to live with its undulations and cleverly placed hazards”. “Don’t be overawed by its reputation, or you will have lost the battle before it has begun”. A good score is there to be had, just don’t get fooled into thinking about what will go wrong. The landing areas are generous and the greens slow. Dye’s creations are notorious for playing tricks on the mind and this is what the course does best. ‘Still with me? Good, you are a fighter aren’t you’? ‘You wouldn’t be playing Dye and hankering to go back to it if you weren’t. Now get out there and try to lower your score. What! You broke your 5 wood trying to reach that Par 5 in 2? You should know better than to play with a 5 wood. Let’s try a 3 wood shall we’?

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Course Review: The Riviera Golf & CC – Couples Course and Langer Course

August 14, 2013, 11:09 pm

≫ Next: A List of Golf Tournaments for September 2013

≪ Previous: Course Review: Eagle Ridge Golf & CC – Dye Course

I woke up with a start when the alarm went off. My wife shushed me and I had to hastily turn the alarm off lest my baby wake up. Took a hasty shower, checked my wallet, picked up my golf bag and went down to the basement to get ready for the drive. As I moved out of my condo parking, I found it raining quite hard. I had already checked google-maps and kind of knew the way to the course. It was my first time playing a course outside of the usual golf courses in Manila. I was heading to Silang, Cavite to play the Couples course at Riviera.

The course is situated in Silang, Cavite, a leisurely drive that that takes you to the course in around an hour (early morning, no traffic). I took the SLEX and then the Carmona exit, headed down Governor’s drive and embarked on a decently long drive till I hit SM Dasmarinas. Take the first left at the stop light immediately after SM and you will reach Riviera. The signboard comes out of nowhere and you are best advised to be on the lookout for it. It sits right opposite a Shell station so you can’t miss it or well maybe you can, like I almost did. A burnout and a quick tyre check later, I was headed down to the clubhouse.

The Couples Course

We were playing the Couples course and as my host put it, “It’s apparently the easier one of the 2 courses in the Riviera Golf and Country Club, the other being a Bernhard Langer creation”. During summers this course is heavily frequented by Korean and Japanese tourists. This is one of the first courses on their agenda when they come touring the Philippines. Very popular with the tourists I am told as I take a few practice swipes with my driver. The first hole is a short 385 yarder which is a gentle opener for the beautiful 2nd, a 507 yard par 5. After a longish drive, I had around 240 left to the pin. I took out my 4 wood and gave it a good whack. I caught the ball clean but found the ball hooking ever so slightly and splashing into the water hazard. Another 5 yards and it would have found the green. Not a good way to start the round, I thought. I took my drop and escaped with a bogey and my pride intact. Holes 4 and 5 are just brutal. Both are par 4s and are handicap 3 and 1 respectively. They are over 400 yards each and have water all along the right side of the fairway. If you can escape these holes then you can consider yourself lucky. The rough around these holes is just brutal so try to play conservatively and stick to the landing zones. I actually overshot the green on the 5th and it took me 2 tries to whack my way out of the rough behind the green.

The 6th is a gentle Par 3 followed by the uphill Par 5 7th hole. The hole is reachable in 2 for the long hitters if the wind is on your side.

The 8th is a hole which continues the trend of >200 yard par 3s. I understand that these holes may not pose much of a challenge for the long hitters but for weekend players these are more of an annoyance. One golf course I played recently (I will decline to name) had 4 par 3s and all were over 190 yards in length. The Par 3 8th which I described earlier is a handicap 5 and has a ravine fronting the green but there is a bunker on the top- right which I considered my bailout area. I was in between clubs and took out my 4 iron and let it rip. I missed high and right and ended up in the thick rough to the right of the bunker. The pitch shot was easy enough and I managed to tap in for par.

After my tee-shot on the next hole, I found my friend dawdling over his shot. I looked at my watch, it was 8:30AM, and we had only finished 8 holes (we teed off at 6:30). This was the 9th hole, a devilish par-4 with the wind blowing whichever way. After he fluffed his 6 iron which dribbled down the fairway about 20 yards towards the green I asked him why he took so much time. He just looked at me and said,” There is no beef-mami in the half-way house before 8:45”. On the Couples course, the half-way house is actually after the 10th hole, not the 9th as in many courses. Incidentally, I know now why he deliberately slowed down. The beef mami is really something else. Don’t get the full bowl or you will not be able to concentrate on the task ahead, the portions are large and delicious!! The closing holes are absolutely taxing so you need to bring your A game.

The 11th is a par-5 with a mandatory carry of 200 yards over a ravine. Not for the faint hearted. I had just had my fill and was pumped up. I smacked one out of the center of the driver and watched my drive sail well over the ravine, or so I thought. The drive managed to find the fairway; only just… My ego took a big knock there. It’s a long and meandering walk down to the fairway so the course has carts to ferry the golfers and caddies to the fairway (If you do decide to walk the course). The second shot plays slightly uphill into a green which has a ravine on the left and 4 bunkers on the front.

Mandatory Meaningless Golf Story Alert!

True to form for me, I almost ended up with 3 n*ts (Not sure if this * can be an appropriate replacement to get this review a PG-13 rating!!). I had hit my second shot, a 4 wood, around 200 yards, leaving me with another 80 yards to the green. I was standing near my cart contemplating which wedge to use, when, out of nowhere, this ball comes flying by. It hits the inside of my right trouser leg, smacks the cart, misses my caddy by 5 inches and goes bouncing down the fairway. I was too stunned to respond till I saw a Korean guy (remember, they love the course!!) come sauntering down with his caddy. I told him that he had almost killed me and he just smiled and waved. Ummhhh….

Anyways, I lived to tell this tale didn’t I? The 12th is a routine, short par 4, reachable with 2 mid-irons. Just hit the fairway or it may be a difficult second shot to the green. The 13th is a slight dogleg par 4. You need 2 good shots to reach the fairway. Slicer’s beware, this is one hole you do not want to miss right, and it has a ravine that will swallow your ball and thick rough if you do miss the ravine. The ideal landing spot on the left is right next to a bunker which will allow you to be aggressive with your second.

The 14th is my favourite hole on the course, I almost got a hole-in-one there. The green sits around 140 yards from the blue tee, guarded by a ravine and bunkers front and bottom. The green is wickedly fast and it’s better to be below the green to allow you to be aggressive with your putt.

The 15th is just a long par 4 which precedes the 16th hole, a par-5. This hole, for all who read, is a scary hole. It is a double dog-leg. You see the fairway stopping in the distance and then curving wickedly to the right. The ideal landing area on the right of the fairway has a deep bunker. You cannot cut this off since there are trees framing the tee box. If you can slice/fade the ball then it is now that you should unleash your gift/curse and be done with the tee shot. Don’t be afraid to lay into the ball. The fairway extends well over 275 yards before you see your ball go into the ravine. This hole though 518 yards is gettable in 2. The second shot plays downhill all the way to a green that is so well guarded, the Avengers could not get in. The left side is kissed by a ravine and a smattering of bunkers that are deep. The figure 8 green is small and surrounded by deep rough on the right and back. Try to get on in 3 and you have a birdie chance, if you are on the correct tier (it’s a 2 tier green). Thankfully, the 17th and 18th are easier holes and birdies are definitely gettable as long as you are accurate. The round was over and I was soaked through due to the incessant rain. Credit to the drainage system that there was no water logging anywhere and the fairways were eminently playable. A hot shower and warm food later, I was ready to reflect on another enjoyable day at a truly beautiful course.

The Langer Course

The Langer course is a tough 7057 yard Par 71 layout. That said, it does present a fair test of your golfing credentials. I make no secret of my love for this course. I love and hate it in equal measure. There are holes aplenty that will frustrate the life out of you and a good score can turn the other way pretty quickly. An easy hole if there is such a thing at ‘Langer’ can be followed by a couple of tough ones. It keeps you on your toes for all 18 holes. Good shots are rewarded and bad shots punished severity. Keep the ball in the fairway at all times…I know, easier said than done.

A ‘not so easy’ start

The first 3 holes are definitely the toughest opening holes among all the courses in the Philippines. All are Par 4s and each one of them is >400 yards. The 1st hole is a 410 yard hole. It is pretty straightforward till you see the green which slopes from the back down to the front. It is framed by bunkers on both sides and if the pin position is front-center then it requires precision to get home with a par against your name. It is a fast green that requires just the right amount of touch or you may find your ball rolling right off the green. The 2nd and 3rd holes are routine Par 4s with their length being the only factor. The 2nd green is quite big but the rough on the left of the green is definitely thick so try and stay to the right or below the hole if you can. The 3rd green is shared with the 16th and one of the few shared greens in the country. It drops off to the back left into tricky rough with the right side being OB.

The 4th is the first Par 3 on the course and measures 171 yards from the blue tees (11 more from the tips). There is a ravine between the tee box and the hole with a bailout area below the green. There are two bunkers on the left and right side, below the green so it’s better to hit it long than short. The Par 5, 5th hole is handicap 1 and an uphill tee shot. Aim along the right of the fairway to avoid the bunker on the left. For the long hitters, there is some foliage on the right side about 280-300 yards off the tee so best to avoid that. The second shot should also be kept right since there is a bunker about 100 yards from the green (provided you can reach it). If you manage to hit your second around 15 yards to the right of this bunker it should give you a chance to attack the green. The green has a large bunker on the right and if the pin placement is back right then it may leave you with a tough 3rd shot into the green.

Holes 6 and 7 are routine par 4s which can be reached in two and present a chance to salvage some pride after the tough opening stretch. 8th is a par 3 around 170 yards from the blue tees. As with most Par 3s on this layout, there is a ravine between the green and the tee box. There is a lone bunker near the front left of the green. If you do miss right then be prepared to pitch out of some nasty rough. Hole number 9 is a short par 4 at 359 yards. After a routine tee shot you will find the second shot leading to a slightly elevated green. There is a small ravine running between the fairway and the green. This only comes into play if you top your second and find the ball running along into the ravine. There is some rough along the lip so you may be surprised to find your ball still in play (if you do top your ball). The green has a lone bunker on the right. Avoid it and 2 putt for par and check-in for some sumptuous beef mami at the half-way house.

Hole number 10 is a par 5. There is water on the left and between the tee and the fairway. It really only comes into play if you cannot drive the ball 170 yards to the fairway. The fairway slopes up with a bunker on the left. If you can hit it over the crest, expect some roll. The second shot, depending on where you land, can constrict your view of the fairway which has 3 bunkers running along the middle. They are around 150 yards to the green and really don’t come into play if you are a decently long hitter. Short hitters are advised to layup before the bunkers, leaving them around 160-170 yards to the green. The 11th is what I call ‘Devil’s Paradise’. It is a cursed hole I tell you. It was the scene of my greatest ever shot and most miserable 3 putt ever (and I was lucky to get a 3 putt). It’s a short Par 4 around 350 yards in length. The tee shot should bisect the fairway and even if you don’t, you are not heavily penalized unless you end up to the right of the fairway around 225 yards off the tee. There is a cluster of trees there. There are 2 bunkers, one to the right and one to the left. The one on the right does not really come into play but the one of the left sits around 225 yards down the fairway so try your best to avoid it. The green, cannot be seen unless you reach the bunker on the left, where the fairway drops down dramatically into a lake/canal. The green sits below the fairway and after the canal.

Tip:

Do not overshoot the green. I mean it. The back of the green has a small grassy knoll which slopes down to the green. You may think that is a good thing but it’s not and I shall explain why.

This particular green has a nasty slope from back to front and I mean nasty. It is lightning quick due to a noticeable slope towards the front of the green. Stay below the hole and you have an opportunity to be aggressive with your putt. A slight touch is enough to set the ball rolling right across the green if you do face a downhill putt that you get aggressive with.

The next hole is a customary >200 yard par 3 which, apart from being long, is nothing special. The 13th however, is a unique hole. It is divided into 3 parts: The tee box, from where you tee off, the fairway and then the green. The tee box and the fairway are bisected by a ravine. The fairway has OB left and a bunker on the right. Be careful not to overshoot the green or go too far right. It is an optical illusion that the fairway seems long, it is not, and the green actually is to the right of the fairway. Reach the fairway and you are left with a short iron into the green which sits to the other side of yet another ravine. This is another quick green and slopes from the back to the front.

The 15th is everyone’s favourite hole on this course. It is a short par 4 reachable in 1 for the long hitters. The fairway has 2 bunkers, one on the left and one on the right for errant tee shots. If you do decide to play driver then it’s better to aim right, since the bunker on the right is a 200 yards carry. The one on the left sits smack in the optimal landing zone at around 220-230 yards. The OB runs all along the left side of the fairway and if you do miss, miss right, as the lack of substantial tree cover will at least give you a chance to hit the green. The 16th is a long par 5 that plays even longer if the wind blows towards the tee. The fairway slopes down to the left. The left side is an OB. If you do manage to skirt the left side of the fairway, there is some relief in the form of a faux-fairway that sits around 5 feet below the main fairway. If you do find your ball there you have no chance of hitting the green in 2 due to the dense foliage and bamboo trees that extend along the left side of the fairway. Your second shot is pretty straightforward and the fairway is at its widest around 130 yards from the green. There is a lone gnarly tree in the middle of the fairway and that is what you should aim for on your second shot. The green sits slightly to the left of the fairway with a bunker on each side. This is a big green (It is a shared green with the 3rd hole) so try and get it close to avoid a 3 putt.

The 17th is the signature hole of the Langer course and the jewel in the crown of this layout. It’s a par-3 which plays downwind all the way. It states that the hole is 154 yards long. Since the green sits well below the tee box, you should have enough clubs to hit 125 yards.

There is a smattering of bunkers around the green which is shaped like a ‘flying saucer’. Everyone in my group managed to land on the green safely while I smacked my 52 degree wedge to the left where it trickled down close to the green. They said that they had all paid their dues on this hole and were now safe in their understanding that their tee shots would land on the green every time they played. Nevertheless, after a steep ride down to the hole (The cart ride is pretty hair-raising so you better keep your foot on the brake on the way down), I found my ball in a pretty good position. I pitched out around 5 feet past the hole and found a fast tricky downhill putt which I managed to hole without much fuss.

The 18th is a wicked closing hole. The fairway slopes down to the right. There is another extension of the fairway towards the right. This extension sits below the main fairway and on level ground with the green which is some ways off. If you do manage to land here, which is no easy feat, you will find yourself on level ground for the second shot. I would not recommend anyone trying to hit this fairway since there is OB all along the right. The shot from the main fairway is always going to be played with the ball below your feet. Deal with it. There are a couple of bunkers guarding the green with a small bailout area towards the left. The right is all OB so best to avoid it. This is one of the trickiest closing holes I have faced in my fledgling golfing journey. This is not a course to be messed with. Play safe and keep out of trouble. There is an OB and a hazard on almost every hole. It’s not a course where you turn up an expect to shoot under par. Stay patient and you will get your opportunity. It’s the tough holes which give you the most satisfaction and believe me there are plenty of them. Having played majority of the courses in and around Metro Manila I can safely say that the Langer is among the top 3 courses I have played. No wonder that I decided to opt for a membership at Riviera. The round done, I looked at my buddy and said, “Want to play another 18? If we play fast, we may be able to finish by sunset”. Its 4 o’ clock my friend said. ‘So?’ I said and ran towards the tee box hoping for another chance at redemption and breaking 95.

More about the Layout

The Couples course hosted the Philippines Open in 1998 which was won by Frankie Minoza. The Langer course has had its share of tourneys as well and provides a stern test for the golfer. I have no shame in recommending it as the toughest test of golf in the Philippines. The fairways have Bermuda Tifton 419 grass and are lush green. It truly is a beautiful course with palm trees aplenty. The water features are well thought out and add to the beauty of the course. The Riviera golf course with its twin courses are a challenge that you must undertake on your golfing journey in the Philippines. If you do not get to play these courses then you are missing something. The Couples course is the ying to the Langer courses’ yang. They fit together beautifully and I have trouble choosing one over the other. If you want an easier challenge, you can choose Couples but will find that the ‘easy’ part is a myth. You cannot say you have experienced golf in the Philippines unless you have played these 2 courses at the Riviera Golf and Country Club.

Amenities: Thankfully, the amenities at Riviera are second to none.

Driving range: If you are playing the course then you get 1 bucket free and there is a nominal charge for the remaining buckets.

Shower facilities: Excellent showers, hot and cold water and a Jacuzzi for those who are into jets of water fizzing around on all your parts. I am like a cat (No, I don’t lick myself clean), I try to stay away from water as much as humanly possible except for the 2 daily baths I have to endure.

Membership Office: This is open from 6AM to 6PM and they are more than happy to assist you with any queries you may have with membership.

The Pro Shop: Opens at 6 and has a wide assortment of the usual golfing equipment. You may have to stock up on balls because you may not find a lot of ball-boys who will sell you balls out on the course.

The Restaurant: Now, this is one reason I love this course. They have a Class A chef who makes the most amazing dishes. Stick to the Filipino dishes and you will keep coming back for more. The beef and lamb are amazing. Remember, the half-way houses and the mami. This is one better.

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A List of Golf Tournaments for September 2013

August 26, 2013, 8:28 pm

≫ Next: Sta. Lucia Golf Tour 2013

≪ Previous: Course Review: The Riviera Golf & CC – Couples Course and Langer Course

Sept 1: Mr. RP Viray Canlubang Golf

Sept 1: Golf Mixes- June Golf Capitol Hills

Sept 1: Fuyoai Mt. Malarayat

Sept 1-8: June Golf Valley Golf & Country Club

Every First Week of Sunday of the Month: Subic Friendship Cup Royal Gardens Golf and Country Club

Sept 2-7: Philippine Golf Tournament Manila Southwoods

Sept 4: ASAP Golf Tournament Alta Vista

Sept 4: c/o Mr. Henry Hagedorn,Mr. Moraza, Mr. Paradies Canlubang Golf

Sept 5-9: Corn Yearly Tounament Club Filipino Inc. De Cebu

Sept 6: Jun Farcon Cub Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Sept 6: Bulwagan Filipino (tentative) Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Sept 6: Fat Boys Golf Tournament Mimosa Golf

Sept 6-8: RC Butuan Apo Golf

Sept 6-8: Oro Banker’s Pueblo de Oro

Sept 7: JCI – Cagayan Golf Tournament Baguio Country Club

Sept 7: Department of National Defense Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Sept 8: Mr. James Chant Canlubang Golf

Sept 9: St. Jude Catholic School Golf Tournament Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Sept 11: PCS Foundation 15 Sunwed Valley Golf & Country Club

Sept 11: Palanyag lodge 323 Golf Tournament Navy Golf Club

Sept 12: New Membership Manila Southwoods

Sept 12: Mimosa Senior Mimosa Golf

Sept 12-15: CTT Testimonial Cup Camp Evangelista

Sept 14: Junior Golf Tournament Alta Vista

Sept 15: Junior Monthly Medal Capitol Hills

Sept 15: Motor Trade Golf Apo Golf

Sept 15: ICTSI- June Golf Foundation of the Interschool Capitol Hills

Sept 18: ACCI Golf Tournament (Palmer Course Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Sept 19: New Members Manila Southwoods

Sept 19: Baguio Ladies Open Golf Association Monthly Tournament Baguio Country Club

Sept 19: Architect Golf Club East Ridge

Sept 19: Veterans Senior Federation Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Sept 20: Interbank Golf Tournament Navy Golf Club

Sept 20: Kiwanis Golf Tournament Valley Golf & Country Club

Sept 20: Amcham Golf Tournament (Palmer Course Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Sept 20-22: Masonic District Pueblo de Oro

Sept 20-22: Rotary North Iligan Golf and Country Club

Sept 21: Monthly Medal Cup Alta Vista

Sept 21: Monthly Challenge Canlubang Golf

Sept 21: US Embassy Golf Club Club Intramuros

Sept 21: Members Monthly Tournament (Chairman’s Cup) (PA & PL Course) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Sept 21: President Cup Valley Golf & Country Club

Sept 21-22: Eagle Master Open Apo Golf

Sept 21-22: Chong Hua High School Golf Tournament Zamboanga Golf and Beach Park

Sept 22: Baguio Junior Golf Association Monthly Tournament Baguio Country Club

Sept 22: East Ridge In Term Play/ Family Bingo Social East Ridge

Sept 23: Rotary Club of Sto. Tomas Mt. Malarayat

Sept 24-27: Omni Sourte Intenational Pueblo de Oro

Sept 25: Inhenyero Tomasino Cup Valley Golf & Country Club

Sept 25: UFF Club Intramuros

Sept 25: Ladies Monthly medal Capitol Hills

Sept 25: New Members Tournament Manila Southwoods

Sept 26: PGA Golf Tournament Mimosa Golf

Sept 26: GCC Golf Tournament (Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Sept 26: Intramuros Lodge Club Intramuros

Sept 28: CSGA Monthly Golf Fellowship Canlubang Golf

Sept 27: San Beda Law Valley Golf & Country Club

Sept 27: Off Set 109 Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Sept 27: Thunderbird Tournament East Ridge

Sept 27: Ateneo Challenge Cup (Palmer Course) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Sept 27-29: Gross Championship Cup The Riviera Golf & Country Club (easy hard course)

Sept 28: Chairman’s Cup Canyon Woods Golf

Sept 28: Mens Monthly Medal Capitol Hills

Sept 29: Members Monthly Event Manila Southwoods

Sept 28: Subic Golf Inter- Nation Golf Tournament Subic Bay Golf and Country Club

Sept 29: June Golf Valley Golf & Country Club

Sept 29: Veterans Senior Federation Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Sept 30: St. Michael the Archangel Church 2nd Invitation Mt. Malarayat

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Sta. Lucia Golf Tour 2013

September 9, 2013, 2:03 am

≫ Next: Pace of Play

≪ Previous: A List of Golf Tournaments for September 2013

“For thirteen years now, the Sta. Lucia Golf Tour has been the paramount golfing event for the Sta. Lucia golf clubs, encouraging members participation and healthy competition among the different clubs. It has also proven to be an excellent way to showcase Sta. Lucia’s stead of world-class golf facilities,” states SLI president and CEO Mr. Exequiel D. Robles.

Last August 5, 2013, was a momentous event for Sta. Lucia Realty as they launched Sta. Lucia Golf Tour 2013 at the Kabisera ng Dencio’s Restaurant in Fort Bonifacio High Street, Taguig City.

The event started with an opening word from Mr. Exequiel Robles one of the big bosses of the Sta. Lucia Realty. Top officials of different golf clubs were present in the event also the general managers of the different courses under Sta. Lucia Realty.

This year SLGT is comprised of two legs. October 3-5 for the Davao Leg at Rancho Palos Verdes Golf and Apo Golf and Country Club and Manila leg on November 7-9 at Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club (Norman and Faldo Course)

Participating teams will be coming from Orchard, Eagle Ridge, Alta Vista, Caliraya Springs, Summit Point, Beverly Place, Royale Tagaytay, Lakewood, Rancho Palos Verdes and Apo golf

Also good news for golfers who are not members of golf clubs under Sta. Lucia Realty. They are welcome to join the tournament as long as they are invited by a club member. “We are setting up a foundation to cultivate the love for golf in the country, and create opportunities for amateur golfers to learn and play the sport,” states Robles.

It will be a four-man team event with three best scores of the team for the round to count for the team total. “The return to the Modified Stableford is expected to once again fuel the friendly rivalry among the participating golf clubs,” explains Vicente Ramos, SLI chairman of the board and SLGT organizing committee.”

The Sta. Lucia Group is the largest golf course developer in the Philippines, with 14 golf courses among its diverse real estate portfolio. For more details on the SLGT 2013, contact Ms. Lorryfer Lantican at (632) 681-7332 / (632) 681-5220 to 21 local 108 or 116/ +63 916 5815123.

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Pace of Play

September 15, 2013, 1:50 am

≫ Next: Course Review: Navy Golf Club

≪ Previous: Sta. Lucia Golf Tour 2013

Not another article on this, you might wonder! Well, it sure is so you might as well buckle down and read on. This issue is not going to go away soon. Case in point of the seriousness of the issue, Hideki Matsuyama and 14 year old Tianlang Guan received penalty strokes for slow play at the majors this year (Why only Asians I would ask, but this is a peace loving site and no place to stir up racially motivated debates). The issue was so serious that even the Golden Bear waded in with his tuppence worth and he was not far off the mark. What he suggested was that the golf ball was to blame. According to him, the golf ball of today travels a fair bit and to accommodate that, the courses need to change. So, they are made longer and longer to provide the pros of today a challenge. This ends up with the course playing longer for both pros and amateurs alike.

Not all of us can drive the ball 300 yards and hit a 4 iron 250 yards. The gold courses of today are ridiculously long for the amateur golfer. Imagine 220 yard par 3s, >600 yard par 5s. 90% of those who play the game are amateurs and are the ones who bring in the money for the sport. With these longer courses, golf clubs risk alienating those very golfers who support the game. As courses get longer, the pace of play slows down since people need more time to walk the course, play more shots and generally contribute to the already declining popularity of the game. While this may be a controversial statement, I can assure you it is not.

Let me paint you one of my customary scenarios.

Most of the private golf courses in and around Manila are around 1 to 1.5 hours drive away.

• You start off from home at 5 A.M.
• Reach your course at 6:15 A.M.
• Changing in and warming up takes another 30 minutes.
• Your front 9 takes 2 hours and 15 minutes (for a threesome).
• You take a short 10 minute break to load up on carbs/sugar.
• Your back nine takes another 2 hours 30 minutes (for a threesome).
• By this time, the watch already reads 11:40 AM.
• You stop for lunch and spend another 30 minutes.
• You leave the course at 12:20 odd and reach home at 1:40 P.M

A trip to the golf course is no longer a stop off and get off journey. It is akin to planning a plane ride to Dubai. You need to devote at least 8 hours of your time to take in a round. No longer can you hop onto a local muni course and play 9 and run back all in the space of 2 hours. This does not bode well for the juniors of the game who learn their craft by watching the pros play. The very same pros that look at a shot from 19 different angles and then hit a shot (Cue pros like J.B.Holmes, Hunter Mahan, Jesper Parnevik, and Ben Crane). Not 1 of these will ever make it to the Golf Hall of Fame. Not that there is a correlation between pace of play and making the hall of fame. Having said that, the normal pace for a twosome in any tour championship is around 4 hours. Sure, there is a lot of price money on offer but that should not be an excuse. There are a lot of players who play fast and yet manage to win. You cannot use an excuse and say that you need to try extra hard or spend more time since there is money to be won. I would argue that the money is indirectly put into the game by spectators and it is the pro’s responsibility to provide them with a fun, enjoyable round. Who wants to see a pro’s pre-shot routine of looking at the target, a shrug of the shoulders, addressing the ball and then backing off, only to repeat this process another 3 times before the actual shot.

My friends in Manila will agree with me when I point out a few courses with interminable wait times: Navy, Villamor, and Camp Aguinaldo. It’s apparent that the public courses get their names called out since they are frequented by more visitors due to their open door policy. However, you cannot discount horror stories of 6 or 7 hour rounds, even if you are a public course. Course Marshalls need to strictly implement a red flag policy of penalizing slow players. Every club has this policy laid out but hardly anyone implements it. The worst of the bunch are players who don’t know the rules of the game. If you are on the green on a Par 3, invite the group behind you to hit their shots. If there is a faster group behind you, then let them through. It’s only simple etiquette and does not take an Einstein level intellect to figure out. A round of golf (I am a high handicapper) played alone (18 holes) should not take one more than 2. 5 hours with a cart. I get through my round at the 9 hole army course in around 1 hour 10 minutes. I have put this to the test at my home course and multiple other courses.

My calculation:

An average round should take you around 95 shots (Mid to high handicappers). Putts will make up around 35%-40% of those shots. If an average person spends 30 seconds on a putt and makes 38 putts in a round; that translates to 19 minutes worth of putts. If that same person spends 20 seconds for each shot from the tee or fairway, they will total another 19 minutes of shot time. The total amount of time spent on actual shots is only 38 minutes. Let’s round it off to 50 minutes for some slow-pokes out there.

A decently-long golf course, played from the blue tees is 6800 yards which translates to 6.2 kilometres. An average person with a normal gait can walk 5 kilometres in an hour. Taking into account the elevation changes and other various factors, we can whittle it down to 4 kilometres per hour. This will give us a walking time of 1 hour and 33 minutes (let’s consider it 1 hour and 50 minutes). The extra 17 minutes for the interminably long walks we face from a green to the next tee.

This gives us a total of 2 hours and 40 minutes for a round of golf. Not a bad time actually. If you do add in a playing partner or two and this number should go up by another 30 minutes to a time of 3 hours 10 minutes for a round with 2 buddies. It can definitely be done if everyone sticks to this. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a utopia and I would be happy to get my round completed in 4 hours or less.

My Suggestions to improve the place of play:

• Call up the course before you leave to check if they are expecting a lot of course traffic. No sense in adding to it. Try another course if you can.
• Warm up before you come to the first tee. No one wants to see your yoga poses on the first tee.
• Be ready for your second shot, as soon as your playing partner has hit his shot, you should be ready to hit yours. Ask your caddy beforehand about yardages and club selection.
• If you riding a cart on the cart path, then get a few clubs with you if you are not sure. It’s better than running back to the cart to fetch your clubs.
• If you are on the green and the group behind are at the tees (Par 3 only), then allow them to hit their shots.
• Don’t use your cellphone or talk on the phone on the course. Leave it for when you are on the cart or leave it altogether.
• Don’t spend time reading the break and re-reading it after everyone has putted through. When your playing partner is lining up the putt, you had better be ready with knowledge on the line and speed of your putt. Once they are done, step up and stroke the ball in.
• On the putting green, if you/your playing partner are left with 5 feet or less then allow them to putt through.
• Never condone delays of any sort on the course even if the offender is your friend. You are only serving to make the game less enjoyable for yourself and worse, maybe upset your rhythm.
• If you do break for lunch or a bite, then remember that most course rules state that you have lost your standing on the course. Please let the flights behind you through.
• No mulligan, ever!!! Well, maybe the tee shot on the first hole but that’s it.
• Last but not the least, if you are a high handicapper, then don’t hit the ball too hard, take it easy and remember, it is better to be short and on the fairway than long and in the ravine!!

The question that faces most of us who watch golf on TV or play on the course: Who wants to sit through a 4 hour snooze-fest of watching someone’s pre-shot routine. I don’t and I am sure most of us don’t as well. This issue is not going to go away anytime soon. It is up to us as golfers to make this game better for us and people around us. If we have budding golfers at home, we need to make them realize this simple fact. Spending 2 minutes over a putt is not going to make you a better putter. See Brandt Snedeker, who is the best putter on the PGA tour. Man, does that guy rocket through his round. We can’t all be like him but we sure as well can try to be less like the ones I mentioned above. Golf is a tiring game; let’s not make it any more tiring than it has to be. So the next time you go out on the golf course remember to have a good time, dragging your feet will not make the good time last.

How to know if you are a slow player:

• You are a slow player if you are still warming up when your partners have already hit their tee shots
• You are a slow player if you are still waiting in the cart for your partner, when you ball lies 10 yards away.
• You are a slow player if you walk to the green from 60 yards out just to check if there is a noticeable slope between the front of the green and the hole. You are not going to hole it from 60 yards, just hit the damn ball!!!
• You are a slow golfer if you cannot decide between a 3 wood and a 5 wood for a 300 yard shot. Just use driver and then after your ball dribbles 60 yards down the fairway, use a 3 wood to get it closer still.
• You are a slow player if you have to pace off a 10 foot putt 3 times when facing a putt for a ‘10’ on a hole (that’s a score not a rating!!)
• You make 5 practise swings and still chunk the ball and then repeat the process all over again.

Remember# It only takes 1 to hold up the line for a 100 others!!

↧

Course Review: Navy Golf Club

September 19, 2013, 4:33 am

≫ Next: The 18th Philippines International Golf Show: A Success

≪ Previous: Pace of Play

Ever since I became a member of one of the clubs south of Manila, I have not had time to visit the course where I met my golfing buddies. These guys were the reason why I prefer playing with a group. These guys, enjoy the game, are knowledgeable and have fun on the course. There is never a dull moment when I play with these guys. So when the invite came for me to tee off with them on a Sunday morning, I jumped at the chance. Yes, it had been raining in Manila for some time and the course is not an all weather beauty like some of the private courses; this course still manages to give me that feeling that ‘all is well with my game and the world in general’.

Enter, The Navy Golf Course. At a tad over 5600 yards from the blue tees, the course is not long by any classification. The challenge is in the narrow fairways and the trees that line virtually every hole on this course. With not so subtle elevation changes and slow greens, this course is unlike the private courses. It’s just different. I played with my group which included Llody and Rico with an honorable mention to my awesome caddy Dang. Rico is a jolly 60 year (and I am being generous) with a quick wit and Llody is a 30 something (again being generous) with a beautiful ‘self-taught’ game. Unfortunately, our buddy Reggie was unable to join so we played as a threesome. Navy sits bang in the middle of Lawton Avenue on the road to the NAIA terminal 3. Once on Lawton Avenue, watch out for the distinctive water tower (nee reservoir) and the gate next to that will lead to the course. A couple of meandering turns later you enter the property. Take care to drop off your bag as soon as you enter the gate and then make your way to the admin section. The first tee is right next to the restaurant and the admin office. We teed off at around 6 AM under an overcast sky.

A Story of 2 nines:

Before I begin my report, I would like to mention a few unique features of the course.

• The way the tee boxes and greens are setup, you can always see golfers on other greens and fairways all around you. You just know that you are part of a community or part of a crowd, depending on how you look at it.
• The course is so accessible, ala Villamor, that it is always crowded. You will see expats, armed forces personnel, kids, all enjoying a round here.
• If it rains, you can expect a wet course (remember it’s not an all-weather course)
• Each hole on navy has a signage next to the yardage box, describing various instruments of war, battleships, troop carriers etc. Informative for sure.
• You cannot, I mean cannot, fail to notice the wait times between holes. If you finish the first 9, then you can be sure that there is a queue at the 10th since the Marshalls allow people to tee off simultaneously from both nines. I feel that this is an area where the course can do better. Wait times of 30-40 minutes are not uncommon between holes 10, 11 and 12.
• There are 5 par 5s and 7 par 3s on the course. No one can blame this Par-70 course of not providing opportunities to score.
• If you are going to take a picture of the fairway or green, then don’t expect to get a clean shot. You will always have someone in your camera’s line of sight!!

Front 9:

We played from the white tees because the blue ones were packed up (No idea why).

Hole 1 is a par 5 with a meandering stream bisecting the fairway. The opening shot is a bit daunting as there are tree branches jutting out all the way on the left of the teeing ground. Try hitting your shot around 240 yards and you will be left with a 220 yard wood/hybrid to an uphill green. The green has a couple of bunkers on either side but all in all an easy opening hole. Hole 2 is a much tougher hole. Though straight and long, the green sits well above the fairway thus making the 447 yarder even longer. Hole 3 is where the action truly starts. It’s a 180 yard par 3 with water around the tee box that does not really come into play. There is a lone tree to the left of the green but does not really come into play unless you pull your tee shot well left. There are a couple of bunkers framing the green but not too deep.

The 4th is my favorite hole on the course. It’s a short Par 4, only 324 yards in length and a dogleg left. If you are a long hitter, you can try hitting over the hazard on the left and over a few houses!!! The fairway is narrow and widens at the turn. Hit a 3 wood and keep right for an open shot to the green. The fairway slopes down to the left so you are typically left with a shot well above your feet (for right handers). After a routine drive, I was left with a 9 iron into the green and I forgot to adjust my aim and found myself on the wrong side of the green and near the bunker. As is typical of navy there are small bunkers on all sides of the green. Credit to the course that inspite of the heavy rain the sand was loose and not packed. A routine wedge was followed by a longish par putt which was duly dispatched and my recovery was well and truly on (I neglected to mention that I was 8 over after the first 3 holes).

The 5th hole is an uphill Par 3. Its only 120 yards in length and no more than a 9 iron or a wedge but due to the elevation, you will be better served to club up.

The 6th is a short dogleg left Par 4 with the outstanding feature the green being surrounded by water on all sides. It’s just a small canal but there is real danger of getting your ball wet if you miss the smallish green.

The 7th is another of the course’s short Par 4s with a slight curve to the right. What you do need to be wary of is your tee shot. With the fairway being framed by trees and quite narrow, it will be better to take a hybrid/wood off the tee. I took a driver off the tee trying to cut over the tree cover on the right but ended up hitting it straight and left and through the tree cover and into the 6th fairway. After a feeble attempt at ‘fore’ I found myself scrambling to find my ball which was slam back in the middle of the 6th fairway. I then had a short discussion with the group behind us. The gentleman insisted that the ball was his while I pointed out that the name on the ball was mine (I try to scribble my name on the ball before I play so I don’t end up hitting the incorrect ball:). After an animated discussion, (with his group pitching in) we settled on the fact that my name was indeed Harry and the ball was in fact mine. I then hit a routine wedge onto the green and 2 putted for par.

The 8th is a 140 yard Par 3 with bunkers framing the green. Nothing fancy, just a routine 8 iron.

The last hole on the front 9 is a 500 yard Par 5 with a small canal bisecting the fairway. If you can carry the driver 260 yards, you can cross the canal and be left with a wood into the green. The green sits a little above the fairway so be careful and adjust your distances accordingly. There are a couple of bunkers short of the green to catch a mishit ball. A birdie hole for sure.

Back 9:

The back 9 started off with the now customary wait time, due to course traffic. After a 20 minute hiatus we finally teed off on the Par 3 which measures 135 yards. It’s surrounded by a bunker on all sides 3 sides with a steep drop off towards the back into deep rough.

The 11th is a short Par 4 which can be carried by the long hitters. There is a small canal (see how the course designers tried to work in some degree of difficulty) at around 260 yards which presents the only challenge. Hole 12 is a routine Par 3 with water on the extreme left only coming into play if you pull your tee shot left. There are 2 bunkers on the right and front which present the obstacle to a medium fast green. The back 9 actually starts off in right earnest from holes 13, 14 and 15. All of which are Par 5s of varying difficulties.

The 13th is an uphill downhill Par 5 while the 14th is a long hole with the green hidden on the right by a clump of trees. The Makati skyline is clearly visible from the tee and the elevated fairway. The 15th is another uphill and downhill hole with a premium on an accurate shot. There are 2 bunkers on either side of the fairway and a stream sitting around 80-100 yards from the green.

The 16th is a beautiful par 3 with a deep bunker on the front of the hole. It’s only a 100 yards in length but the green slopes heavily from the back to the front. The beautiful part about this hole is that more often than not you can actually see planes on their landing approach to the Airport. Take note, you will have to shake off the deep rumble of those planes as they pass quite close to the hole. This hole also has a small snack bar which you can use to stock up for the final 3 holes which are actually quite easy. After landing my tee shot around 10 feet to the green, I found myself looking at a slow uphill putt (hate those). I missed it by about 2 inches, tapped in for par and tried my best to blame my putter!!

The 17th is a 160 yard par 3 (the 7th Par 3 of this course). Nothing fancy, just hit a 6 iron, get a birdie and move on. If you do manage to drop it short then you may find yourself in a bunker which is not tough to splash out of. The 18th sits beside a road so there is a big net all the way to the left side to catch the errant tee shot. I must assume the residents there have made quite a killing on the used golf ball market. My buddies duly added to that booming industry by launching a couple of handsome drives straight down the left and disturbing a few roosters who cackled their displeasure. I hit mine down the center and over the small canal bisecting the fairway (there must be a million of those on this course). The fairway slopes gently to the right and I was faced with a downhill lie for my second. I flubbed my second and hit a beautiful wedge to 10 feet for my 3rd. Took my bogey and signed off on what turned out to be my second best ever round of 87!!

While the front 9 is a mix of short and long holes, elevation changes and a couple of water hazards, the back nine is easy paced and will give you the best opportunities to score. The rough on the front 9 is thick and a devil to hack out of. The back nine starts off slow and after a flurry of 3 par 5s in a row, gently meanders off into the easiest closing holes you will play on any course. Navy is not a fancy course, not does it pretend to be. The only negative is the green fee which after a discount due to my Golfph membership, came out to be Php 2000 (they also added a 10% expat charge!!). After tipping your caddy and getting a bite, you will end up paying close to 3K for a round of golf. Is it worth it? Depends on what your expectations are. There are cheaper courses outside the metro and a couple cheaper towards the east of the metro. Even Villamor is a cheaper bet. The good thing about Navy is that you don’t need a cart and we actually finished our round in 3.5 hours which is not bad for a threesome with a decently high handicap.

If you ever find yourself short on confidence and need a pick-me-up, this is the perfect course. After my historic front 9 meltdown at a recent tournament, I needed a confidence boost and this was it. You don’t need a long game to score on this course. The greens are slow and if you do manage to overhit your ball, you won’t be faced with the prospect of chipping your way back. The caddies are knowledgeable and helpful and the course feels like coming home to a warm welcome. It’s a lush, green course and the fairways are well maintained. Not the best mind you but definitely no bald spots. If you are in the Fort area and want to catch a game, then I recommend Navy. Army is too short and Villamor is best described as an exercise in patience. This course will force you to use all the clubs in your bag and at the end of the day that is the perfect kind of exercise.

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The 18th Philippines International Golf Show: A Success

September 26, 2013, 2:19 am

≫ Next: Cobra Amp Cell Hybrid: Flying under the Radar?

≪ Previous: Course Review: Navy Golf Club

The three day celebration of the most anticipated 18th Philippines International Golf Show 2013 held at the Hall 1 of SMX Convention Center, Pasay City was a success. The exhibit showcased various golf brands of suppliers, distributors and service that surely catched the eyes of the onlookers in the said event.

Golf Distributors Association of the Philippines is the organizer of the longest running golf show in Asia. The exhibit featured many different booths including those of GDAP members and partners. The exhibit also featured various event activities and contest such as putting challenge, raffles, a fashion show and a brief press conference with Ms. Cyna Rodriguez of ICTSI who just turned pro golfer.

Overall many fellow golfers, family and friends found the exhibit as the best place to shop for equipment and to meet old and new friends who share the same spirit and love for the game of golf.

We would like to thank our members who dropped by at our booth and shared their smiles. Thank you everyone…

Also to our new members we met and signed up at the exhibit… What took you guys so long to become a member? Just kidding. Welcome to GolfPH! We are so excited to have you as a part of our membership.

Congratulations to the Golf Distributors Association of the Philippines for a job well done. This is another milestone in the Philippine golfing industry and another Big Step for GolfPH as a company who participated in the said event.

Kudos to GolfPH Team!

Btw, for those of you that entered our contest. Stay tuned for the next blog post. We are still tallying up the votes and we’ll be revealing the winners.

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Cobra Amp Cell Hybrid: Flying under the Radar?

September 29, 2013, 6:32 pm

≫ Next: A List of Golf Tournaments for October 2013

≪ Previous: The 18th Philippines International Golf Show: A Success

It had been raining hard since Typhoon Usagi was still making its way to Hong Kong by way of the Philippines. Things on the course were as wet as they could be and the fact that I had new clubs in the bag only compounded matters. The 7th hole at Langer, which is one of the 2 holes on the Riviera course I detest, is a 400 yard par 4 with a fairway sloping wickedly to the right and trees along the left side of the tee box which can catch a rising ball. I managed to avoid the trees with my tee shot but was left with 180-190 yards to the pin which was tucked just behind the front right bunker. Since I don’t have a 5 iron anymore, I whipped out the newest addition to my stable, (I really had to think hard before putting this sentence in my review lest it be misconstrued) my 5 hybrid. It’s actually a 4-5 hybrid. It’s a new club and I had just taken it out of the wrapping in the morning of my round. The loft was set to 5 (I checked) and so without further ado, I swung away. I caught the ball clean but there was no sweet ‘click’, just a muted thud and the ball soared left before deciding to take a slight curve right, bounced once on the fringe and rolled to a stop about 9 feet away from the cup. My friend just looked at me and said, “Cobra huh!!”. Oh yeah, a Cobra alright!

Truth be told, I only bought the Cobra hybrid after reading about it on Golf.com and deciding that it was cheap enough to warrant a purchase. I did not want to traverse the length of the Philippines to look for one so I logged on to eBay and promptly got one for a knock down price of $89 including shipping! Like I had mentioned, I had only opened the package on the morning of my round and it’s a decent enough wrapping with Cobra logos adorning the package. What makes the new Cobra AMP Cell line so great is the “My Fly” hosel technology which allows you to adjust the loft of the club without having a major impact on face angle because of the “Smart Pad” sole design. AMP CELL and E9 Face Technology™ free up discretionary weight for a 12% larger effective face which makes for faster ball speeds even on mishits. Now that the customary manufacturer quotes are out of the way, let’s see what the club looks like. The club comes in 4 colours, Red, Blue, Orange and Silver. I purchased the red because I thought the colour kind of pops out. It’s not a loud colour by any means and the black pad at the back of the club-head actually adds to its appeal. The club also has a patented Dual roll technology which is supposed to add roll to your ball. Good hits are greeted with a muffled thud but the ball absolutely rockets off the face. This thing is hot! The only complain I have is that there may not be a lot of feedback on poorly hit shots, but if it goes 10 yards less and stays on the short grass, who cares.

Gloomy picture at 5 AM with the wrapping still on.

Picture at 2 PM after a wet round.

At address.

Dual Roll Technology.

These are the various hybrid options available in their latest iteration of the Amp Cell hybrids:

The accompanying tool makes it easy to screw out the shaft and adjust it to whatever loft you desire. I had mine set to 5 which is around 25 degrees in loft but after coming home I decided to test it out and moved it to a 5 Draw setting which is ideally 24 degrees with a draw. The 4-5 hybrid as you can see in the table above can go between 6 different settings from 22 to 25 degrees of loft. I suppose most of us will have yardages assigned to our clubs and wont tinker much but the option is available nonetheless. I did not get to hit one with the lowest loft so cannot really comment on whether there is a noticeable distance increase. I do suppose that 10 yards gain will be had with the lower loft setting as opposed to the highest one.

The small window on the hosel showing the loft.

Different loft settings offered.

The Tinkerman’s Tool

The club also comes with a headcover which I think is great. It has 2 slots on the sides to allow air flow. If your club is wet after a round in the rain, there is a certain dampness which will only go when it is aired out. The slots on the cover allow air to pass through and eliminate the damp smell our bags accumulate if one gets caught in the rain. In the Philippines, this is a godsend and I got to test this first hand in the past 2 days and can safely say that the cover flat-out works!

The club also comes with an instruction manual which details how to utilize the MyFly technology to adjust the loft of the club. It’s a standard manual in multiple languages and doubles up as a standard for all Cobra Amp Cell drivers, woods and hybrids. Nothing you would not expect but nothing you would miss if not present.

The grip of the club is a Lamkin REL 3Gen 360 grip which is pretty soft and grippy but you might want to get it adjusted to suit your hand size. If you do order one from the website you do have an option to get it adjusted to your hand size but mine was ordered off eBay so I got lucky when it turned out to be an exact fit.

Cobra Stock Shaft

The Cobra comes with a stock shaft and I suppose this is one area where people might consider a change. It shows the company logo on the shaft and other specs. It weighs only 58 grams in ‘Stiff’ and I suppose that might be too light for some. Here is my take on it. If you have a smooth, easy swing, you are more likely to hit this well but if you have a violent transition and a fast swing you may find yourself having to adjust. I tried my first couple of shots with this club and took it nice and easy and was well rewarded. I kicked it up a notch for the next few shots and found out that the dispersion was not so tight (but not bad as well). If you prefer a heavier shaft on your hybrids and woods then make a change, otherwise the stock shaft is not a bad option. This club begs to go straight. Mishits do not result in big distance losses and I nary hit a slice. A couple of fades yes but nothing worse than light rough. Talking about rough, this club eats rough for breakfast. Light rough, heavy rough, this thing will power through all of it with ease. I have not hit one from the bunker so cannot comment on its performance but I think due to the rounded sole it may dig a little bit. This comment may however be subject to some prejudice if readers have experienced good performance from the sand. Its performance off the tee is amazing. Tee shots held their line and flew straight and high. The true loft on this baby may be a bit more than advertised but I am not complaining. Performance from the short grass is commendable and those looking for added height will not be disappointed. Shots result in soft, high draws and you can be sure that these clubs will get you on or around the green with minimal fuss. Launches high and lands soft. What more could a guy ask for?

Most people will ignore Cobra golf and their offerings but I am here to tell you that this will be a gross injustice to a very fine brand. This is the first time I have bought any Cobra product but it will not be the last. I have found myself staring at the Cobra Amp Cell driver and their fairways on eBay for the last 2 days in a row. An unhealthy attraction? Maybe…just don’t tell the wife.

Quick look at the club:

Hits:

• Ball rockets off the face
• Multiple colour options
• Solid trajectory and distance
• Smooth swings are rewarded with predictable results
• My Fly adjustable hosel with 6 different settings.

Misses:

• Lightweight stock shaft not very consistent for faster swingers.

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A List of Golf Tournaments for October 2013

September 30, 2013, 8:05 pm

≫ Next: A List of Golf Tournaments for November 2013

≪ Previous: Cobra Amp Cell Hybrid: Flying under the Radar?

october tournament

Oct 19: Monthly Medal Alta Vista

Oct 19: June Golf Challenge Alta Vista

Oct 3-5: Sta. Lucia Tour Apo Golf

Oct 12: Medfa Mayor’s Cup Apo Golf

Oct 19: Davao Lodger 149 Foundation Apo Golf

Oct 26: - Mt. Apo Lions’s Cup Apo Golf

Oct 22- 23: Ayala Land Army Golf Club (Formerly Kagitingan Executive Golf Course)

OCT. 5: IBP – BAGUIO – BENGUET GOLF TOURNAMENT Baguio Country Club

OCT. 15: BOYSCOUT GOLF TOURNAMENT Baguio Country Club

OCT. 19: BLOGA (ANNIVERSARY GOLF TOURNAMENT) Baguio Country Club

OCT. 20: JUN GOLF MONTHLY GOLF TOUNAMENT Baguio Country Club

OCT. 25: SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY BATCH 75 GOLF TOURNAMENT Baguio Country Club

Oct 5: PIGS Canlubang Golf

Oct 6: c/o Mr. James Chant Canlubang Golf

Oct 9-11: 14th Canlubang Amateur Open Canlubang Golf

Oct 19: Monthly Challenge-Medal Play Canlubang Golf

Oct 24: IEE-Mitsubishi Electric Elevator( North Course) Canlubang Golf

Oct 24: 2nd Capt. Gregorio Oca (South Course) Canlubang Golf

Oct 25: Delta Airlines-Ms. Gina Campos Canlubang Golf

Oct 26: CSGA Monthly Golf Fellowship Canlubang Golf

Oct 9: ladies President Cup Tournament Cebu Country Club

Oct 11: RCBC Golf Tournament Cebu Country Club

Oct 12-13: president cup tournament, 20 junoir monthly medal, 26- mens monthly medal, 30- ladies and hollewn tounement Cebu Country Club

Oct 18: Rotary South Triangle Club Intramuros

Oct 19: US Embassy/ Dietetic Engineers Club Intramuros

Oct 25: Abotis Club Intramuros

Oct 27: ICTSI Club Intramuros

Oct 5-6: September Classic Davao City Golf Club

Oct 5: Ladies Monthly Tournament Eagle Ridge

Oct 12: Members Monthly Monthly Medal Eagle Ridge

Oct 19: Seniors Monthly Tournament Eagle Ridge

Oct 9: Yamaha Tournament East Ridge

Oct 15-25: East Ridge Club Champion East Ridge

Oct 30: 3rd Pito Bengabi Memorial Cup East Ridge

Oct 11: UP Golf Cup Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Oct 14: 3rd Impact Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Oct 19: Members Tournament Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Oct 25: QC Dynamic Golf Cup Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Oct 5: CTU Golf Tournament Iloilo Golf

Oct 23: Senior Fellowship Golf Mactan Island Golf

Oct 2: CREBA Golf Tournament Manila Southwoods

Oct 4: Bangladesh EID Golf Tournament Manila Southwoods

Oct 9: ACCI Golf Tournament Manila Southwoods

Oct 11: Yamaha Dealer Friendship Golf Tournament Manila Southwoods

Oct 16: Golf Tournament Manila Southwoods

Oct 18: 4EEI President’s Cup Manila Southwoods

Oct. 23: SEIPI Golf Tournament Manila Southwoods

Oct 25: Philippines Australia Council Golf Tournament Manila Southwoods

Oct 27: Member’s Monthly Event Manila Southwoods

Oct 30: New Members Tournament Manila Southwoods

Oct 10: Mimosa Senior Mimosa Golf

Oct 17: 2013 Metro Pacific Tollways Corpoartion Mimosa Golf

Oct 18: Rotay Club of Valenzuela Mimosa Golf

Oct 31: Pampanga Golfers Association Tour Mimosa Golf

Oct 11- 13: 4th Bacolod Mascara Mayor’s Tournament Negros Occidental Golf

Oct 26-: Memorial Tournament Negros Occidental Golf

Oct 12: Monthly Medal Pueblo de Oro

Oct 3-5: Sta. Lucia Tour Rancho Palos Verdes

Oct 12-13: Tournament for the Champion Rancho Palos Verdes

Oct 18: Fun Golf Globe Rancho Palos Verdes

Oct 19-20: Tournament for the Champion Rancho Palos Verdes

Oct 21-26: Ladies PAL Rancho Palos Verdes

Oct 1: Titans Golf Club Royal Northwoods

Oct 4: Philex Mines Golf Tournamen Royal Northwoods

Oct 17: Royal Nothwoods Senoirs Golfers Club Royal Northwoods

Oct 19: Dugung Bughaw Golf Tournament Royal Northwoods

Oct 26- 5th: Members Golf Tournament Royal Northwoods

Oct 20: Toyota Golf San Juanico Golf and Country Club

Oct 20: Member’s Tournament Sherwood Hills

Oct 18: Mr Ochiai Tournament South Forbes Golf City

Oct 25: South Forbes President South Forbes Golf City

Oct 19: 7th Splendido Cup Splendido Golf Club

Oct 26: Subic Golf ” Jungle Johns” Golf Tournament Subic Bay Golf and Country Club

Oct 12: Blades Golf Tournament Summit Point Golf

Oct 20: Nakayoshi Golf Tournament TAT Filipinas Golf Club/ KC Filipinas

Oct 27: Etza Golf Tournament TAT Filipinas Golf Club/ KC Filipinas

Oct 2: Fore Manaria (Our Lady Of Pillar) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Oct 3: Y.O.U.N.G Golf The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Oct 4: 6th RCBC Korean Corporate Client Golf Invitational The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Oct 11: PISI Golf Tournament (Palmer Course) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Oct 14: 1st Commissioner Cup (Palmer Course) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Oct 18: Marin Sports Golf Tournament(tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Oct 20: Members Monthly Tournament (2-Man Scramble w/ Sliding tee Box) (Player Course) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Oct 21: Golf Mic Tournament(Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Oct 23: Trends & Technologies (Palmer Course Tenative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Oct 24: Rotaty Club of Muntinlupa ( Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Oct 25: RCC Cup Golf Tournament (Palmer Course Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Oct 25: Y.O.U.N.G Golf The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Oct 30: UP Giology Alumni Association/ UPGAA (Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Oct 25- 27: Match Play Club Championship The Riviera Golf & Country Club (easy hard course)

Oct 13: PCS Foundation 15 Sunwed Valley Golf & Country Club

Oct 18: Jason Amante Cup Valley Golf & Country Club

Oct 22: UECDA Valley Golf & Country Club

Oct 23: Joga Cup Valley Golf & Country Club

Oct 25: Picam Cup Valley Golf & Country Club

Oct 3: Veterans Senior Federation Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Oct 17: Veterans Senior Federation Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Oct 5-6: VMC Presidents Cup Victorias Golf and Country Club Inc

Oct-4: Zeta Phi Gamma Golf Tournament Villamor Golf Club

Oct 11: Peter Wallace Tour Clan Villamor Golf Club

Oct 17: EEGC Golf Tour Villamor Golf Club

Oct 18: Metal Working Industry Association of the Philippines Villamor Golf Club

Oct: Fiesta Pilar (Tentative) Zamboanga Golf and Beach Park

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A List of Golf Tournaments for November 2013

October 30, 2013, 12:38 am

≫ Next: A List of Golf Tournaments for December 2013

≪ Previous: A List of Golf Tournaments for October 2013

A List of Golf Tournaments for November 2013

Nov. 23: Monthly Medal Alta Vista

Nov. 15: Ateneo Alumni Alta Vista

NOV 9: BISHOP CUP GOLF TOURNAMENT Baguio Country Club

NOV 14: BLOGA MONTHLY GOLF TOURNAMENT Baguio Country Club

NOV 15: HOTEL ELIZABETH GOLF TOURNAMENT Baguio Country Club

NOV 16: SLU BATCH 89 GOLF TOURNAMENT Baguio Country Club

NOV 17: JUN GOLF MONTHLY GOLF TOURNAMENT Baguio Country Club

NOV19: PMSEA GOLF TOURNAMENT Baguio Country Club

NOV 20- DEC 7: FIL- AM GOLF TOURNAMENT (SENIORS & REGULAR) Baguio Country Club

Nov. 6: Pamawag Water District Tournament Beverly Place Golf

Nov 14: Mimosa Seniors Golf Tournament VS Veterance Seniors Golf Assoication Beverly Place Golf

Nov 9: Chairman’s Cup Calatagan Golf Club

Nov. 4-8: ICTSI-Canlubang, Nov 10- c/o Mr. James Chant Canlubang Golf

Nov 12: WGAP Ryder, Nov 13- MMPC- Media/ Bankers Canlubang Golf

Nov 15: RCBC – Japanese Canlubang Golf

Nov 19: C/c Mr. Tsutomu Harada Canlubang Golf

Nov 21: C/c Mr. M Kabayashi Canlubang Golf

Nov 22: ROCKWELL Canlubang Golf

Nov 23: Monthly Challenge-Hard Course Canlubang Golf

Nov. 29: St. Andrews Nations Trophy Canlubang Golf

Nov 30: CSGA Monthly Golf Fellowship Canlubang Golf

Nov. 17: ICTSI- June Golf Foundation of the Philippines Interschool Capitol Hills

nov 6: ladies tomodachi tournament, Cebu Country Club

Nov. 9-10: tomodachi tournament Cebu Country Club

Nov. 13: Cebu Chimber Tournament Cebu Country Club

Nov. 17: junior monthly medal Cebu Country Club

Nov 23: Mens Monthly Medal Cebu Country Club

Nov. 27: ladies Monthly Medal Cebu Country Club

Nov 9: US Embassy Club Intramuros

Nov 16: Aniban Golf Tournament Club Intramuros

Nov. 23: Red Cross Club Intramuros

Nov 8: Ladies Monthly Tournament Eagle Ridge

Nov. 15-16: Fore by Four Invotational Eagle Ridge

Nov 12: 5th Laquid Gas East Ridge

Nov 9-10: Fonatana Golf FA Korea CC

Nov. 17: Fontana Golf FA Korea CC

Nov 17: Euro Asia Golf Tournament Fontana Leisure Park

Nov 11: 1ST COMDDAP GOLF TOURNAMENT Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Nov 15: RYDERS CUP Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Nov 25: GLOBE Cup Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Nov 27: Philippine College of Surgeons Foundation Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Nov 8: Iloilo Golf Tournament (Private Member Only) Iloilo Golf

Nov 7: New Members (Legends) Manila Southwoods

Nov 8: Shell Kabibe Golf Tournament Manila Southwoods

Nov 11-17: Resorts World Manila Masters Manila Southwoods

Nov 19-: 3rd Senoir Trimester Borday Bash Manila Southwoods

Nov 20: Genting Club Golf Tounament Manila Southwoods

Nov 21: New Members (Legends) Manila Southwoods

Nov 22: Shankers Golf Society Manila Southwoods

Nov 24: Monthly Tournament Manila Southwoods

Nov 27: New Members (Legends) Manila Southwoods

Nov 29: P.A. Alvarez Golf Tournament Legends Manila Southwoods

Nov 8: SBITC Golf Tournament Mimosa Golf

Nov 9: 5th Members of Mimosa Association Mimosa Golf

Nov 20: 7th CF Angeles & Mimisa Golf Tournamen Mimosa Golf

Nov 22: Mayors Cup (Rolen C. Paulino) Mimosa Golf

Nov 8- 10: Tony Chan Memorial Tournament Negros Occidental Golf

Nov 16-17: One La Salle Tournament Negros Occidental Golf

Nov 29: PNP Cup Golf Tournament Negros Occidental Golf

Nov 8-10: Integrated Bar of the Philippines Pueblo de Oro

Nov 19-22: Club and Class Championship Pueblo de Oro

Nov 23: Monthly Medal Pueblo de Oro

Nov 28: Royal Northwoods Senior Golfers Club Royal Northwoods

Nov 10: Rotary Club San Juanico Golf and Country Club

Nov 10-: Sherwood Cup Sherwood Hills

Nov 8: CFCFFL Tournament South Forbes Golf City

Nov 15: UCAP South Forbes Golf City

Nov 16: South Forbes Challenge South Forbes Golf City

Nov 18: Mr. Araja Tournament South Forbes Golf City

Nov 4: Phonix Petroleum Golf Tournament Splendido Golf Club

Nov 14: EAS JC Tournament Splendido Golf Club

Nov 25-29: ASEAN Tour Splendido Golf Club

Nov 23: Subic Golf Koreans Master Cup Tournament Subic Bay Golf and Country Club

Nov 2: German Golf Club Tournament Summit Point Golf

Nov 9: Ortigas Club Tournament TAT Filipinas Golf Club/ KC Filipinas

Nov 17: Nakayoshi Golf Tournament TAT Filipinas Golf Club/ KC Filipinas

Nov 24: Etsa Golf Tournament TAT Filipinas Golf Club/ KC Filipinas

Nov 9: Pilagyo Golf Tournament TAT Filipinas Golf Club/ KC Filipinas

Nov 6: Richard Ty Golf Tournament (Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Nov 7: Palyboy Golf Tournament (Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Nov 8: SBITC Golf Tournament (Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Nov. 8: UCAP Golf Tournament The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Nov 21-24: Founders Cup The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Nov 27: UCAP Golf Tournament (Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Nov 28: The Enterprise Center The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Nov 29: San Nicolas De Tolentino Golf Cup (Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Nov 3: Valley Barkadahan Championship Valley Golf & Country Club

Nov 16 & 24: 53rd Valley Intra Club Valley Golf & Country Club

Nov 30: Seniors Big Bang Golf Tournament Valley Golf & Country Club

Nov 5: PCCI Golf Valenzuela, Chapter Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Nov 7: Veterans Senior Federation, Nov 8- Rotary Club of South Triangle Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Nov 12: ACCI Golf Tournament Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Nov 16: Philippine Trial Court Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Nov 21: Thursday Club, Nov. Primera Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Nov30- Dec 1: 4th Junie Bantog Memorial Tournament Victorias Golf and Country Club Inc

Nov 9-10: Monthly Tournament Zamboanga Golf and Beach Park

Nov. 30: President Cup Zamboanga Golf and Beach Park

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A List of Golf Tournaments for December 2013

November 24, 2013, 9:14 pm

≫ Next: Course Review: Villamor Golf Club

≪ Previous: A List of Golf Tournaments for November 2013

A List of Golf Tournaments for December 2013

Dec 14-15: Fun Golf Alta Vista

Dec – 28: Monthly Medal Alta Vista

Dec 20: Ateneo Alumni Del Monte Golf Club

Dec 28: Notre Dame Del Monte Golf Club

DEC 10 OR 12: BLOGA (CHRISTMAS GOLF TOURNAMENT) Baguio Country Club

DEC 19: BLOGA MONTHLY TOURNAMENT Baguio Country Club

DEC 22: JUNGOLF MONTHLY TOURNAMENT Baguio Country Club

DEC 30: NANOY CUP GOLF TOURNAMENT Baguio Country Club

Dec 7-8: Senior Open Golf Tournament Camp Evangelista

Dec 12-15: RCCV 3rd open Golf Tournment Camp Evangelista

Dec 6: Pugad Lawin sa Northview c/o Mr. Ed Abores Canlubang Golf

Dec 7: CSGA Monthly Golf Fellowship Canlubang Golf

Dec 9: Employees “One Ball Two Some w/ Lady Putter Tournament Canlubang Golf

Dec 10: C/o Atty. Francisco Rodrigo Canlubang Golf

Dec. 10-13: PGT – Ladies Canlubang Golf

Dec 14: Monthly Challenge- Intra Club, Canlubang Golf

Dec 16: Caddies Christmas Golf Tournament Canlubang Golf

Dec 17: Employees Individual Canlubang Golf

Dec 19: Caddies Christmas Party Canlubang Golf

Dec. 9: Ladies Caddie Christmass Tournamen Cebu Country Club

Dec 11: Ladies Monthly Medal Cebu Country Club

Dec 15: Junior Monthly Medal Cebu Country Club

Dec 28: Men Monthly Medal Cebu Country Club

Dec 27: Torneo nantividad: A Golf Club Punta Fuego

Dec 7: Ladies Monthly Tournament Eagle Ridge

Dec 14: Member’s Monthly Medal Eagle Ridge

Dec 21: Senior’s Monthly Tournament Eagle Ridge

Dec 6-7: 5th Keeper Tournament Fonatana Golf FA Korea CC

Dec 2: Architects Golf Club Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Dec 6: U P G C XMAS GOLF TOURNAMENT Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Dec 13: DUGONG BUGHAW Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Dec 14: Christmas Tournament Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Dec 20: EEI GOLF CLUB Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Dec 21: DUGONG BUGHAW course

Dec 6-8: Bamboo Tee Tournament Iloilo Golf

Dec 4: P.A. Alvarez Golf Tournament Manila Southwoods

Dec 5- 6: DMCI Group Companies Golf Tournament Manila Southwoods

Dec 11: Ad Board Invitational Golf Tournament Manila Southwoods

Dec 13-14: Chairman’s Charity Cup Manila Southwoods

Dec 18: Sean Nicolas De Tolentino Cup Manila Southwoods

Dec 20: EEI President’s Cup Manila Southwoods

Dec 27: Rey Langit Golf Tournament Manila Southwoods

Dec 6: UP Agu Man Golf Tour Mimosa Golf

Dec 12: Mimosa Senior Mimosa Golf

Dec 14: Year- End Golf & Christmas Party Mimosa Golf

Dec 19: Pampanga Golfers Association Tour & Christmas Party Mimosa Golf

Dec 14: Monthly Medal/ Christmas Party Pueblo de Oro

Dec 6: Power Voice Royal Northwoods

Dec 7: Early Risers Golf Tournament Royal Northwoods

Dec 11: Hard Rock Monthly Golf Tournament Royal Northwoods

Dec 13: City Gate Open Cup Royal Northwoods

Dec 19/26: Senior Golf Tournament Royal Northwoods

Dec 21: Members Christmas Golf Tournament Royal Northwoods

Dec 8: Christmas Tournament Royal Tagaytay Country Club

Dec 8: Jun Golf (Tentative) South Forbes Golf City

Dec 13: Roland’s Cup South Forbes Golf City

Dec. 14: South Forbes Chairmans Cup South Forbes Golf City

Dec 7: Fun Raising Tournament (Typhoon Yoland) Subic Bay Golf and Country Club

Dec 13: Rotaty Club Subic Bay Golf and Country Club

Dec 28: Subic Golf’s Year End Celebration Tournament (Tentative) Subic Bay Golf and Country Club

Dec 14: Members Tournament Summit Point Golf

Dec 15: Nakayoshi Golf Tournament TAT Filipinas Golf Club/ KC Filipinas

Dec 29: Etsa Golf Tournament TAT Filipinas Golf Club/ KC Filipinas

Dec 17: Caddie Tournament The Cliffs Golf

Dec 28: Year End Tournament The Cliffs Golf

Dec 2: Avaya Golf Tournament (Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Dec 3: Amichi Golf Tournament (Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Dec 4: Paragon Cup The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Dec 5: Lions int’l Golf Fellowship (Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Dec 6: Golf Mix (Tenative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Dec 9: Architects Golf Club Tournament The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Dec 14: Members Monthly Tournament (Christamas Tournament) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Dec 15: Jungolf- Parent & Child The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Dec 19-20: Y.O.U.N.G. Masters The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Dec 20: PJMES Corporation Golf Tournament The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Dec 27-28: Year End (Family Scramble & Four Man Scramble) The Riviera Golf & Country Club (easy hard course)

Dec 5: Pisay Golf Valley Golf & Country Club

Dec 6: Ateneo Golf Club Valley Golf & Country Club

Dec 8: Members Tournament Valley Golf & Country Club

Dec 10: Saga Golf Tournament Valley Golf & Country Club

Dec 15: Member Caddy Golf Tournament Valley Golf & Country Club

Dec 16: Hooker Tournament Valley Golf & Country Club

Dec 27: Rhiet Ermita Golf Valley Golf & Country Club

Dec 5: Christmas Tournament Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Dec 6: 1st Class President Golf Tournament Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Dec 10: Golf Tee Christmas Tournament Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Dec 13-14: tournament Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Veterans Golf Club: 1st Year End Golf Tournament Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Dec 17: Valenzuela Golf Club Christmas Tournament Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Dec 21: Mahogany Wood Golf Club Annual Tournament Veterans Memorial Golf Club

Dec 1: President Cup Zamboanga Golf and Beach Park

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Course Review: Villamor Golf Club

December 5, 2013, 10:07 pm

≫ Next: Golf Meetup December – South Forbes

≪ Previous: A List of Golf Tournaments for December 2013

Villamor is an 18-hole par-72 championship golf course located on the corner of Lawton Avenue and South Super Highway. It sits just to the south of the Makati Business District, on the highway going south. The course has a total yardage of 6,681. It is fairly flat, but still challenging to golfers of all standards due to the trees and water hazards. The fairways are lined with agoho, ipil-ipil, nara and mango trees. Indian tulips mark the 150-yard point on each hole. The grass on the fairways is native carabao grass, which is ideally suited to the tropical climate. Facilities include a driving range, practice putting greens, practice pitching greens, golfer’s lounge, tee house, pro shop, men’s and ladies’ changing rooms, massage facilities. I have not tried the massage facilities but the tee house and changing rooms are clean and serviceable.

The course is typically frequented by any and all and I mean that in a good way. The sheer accessibility of this course is a big reason why the volume of people that frequent this piece of land outnumbers many a golf course inside and outside the metro. Some clubs like to be exclusive and they are welcome to be but golf as a game, is meant for everyone. This is where Villamor excels. It’s not a long course by any means but don’t take that to mean it’s an easy one. It used to play host to the now ‘invisible’ Philippines Masters.

1_ Hole 1, tough tee shot framed by trees

The walk starts off innocuously enough with a tight Par 4. Measuring a tad over 350 yards, it’s short enough but there is a stream crossing the fairway at 150 yards and a bunker on the right at 200 yards. I played a 4 wood and was left with an easy 9 iron into the green. The green is slightly elevated and sloped wickedly towards the back. The green was playing slow and I misjudged the speed and ended up with 3 putts for a bogey start.

The 2nd is a Par 5 measuring 509 yards in length. It’s a dogleg-left with a pond at around 220 yards. There is another pond in the middle of the fairway and bunkers dotted all around it and the green. I played it smart and went for the green in 3. Trouble was that I had to lay-up before the second pond and found myself with a hard wedge to the green which is a two-tiered affair. I landed on the wrong tier and was faced with a tricky up and down putt for birdie which I missed. I managed to par that hole however and moved on to the 3rd which is another dogleg left. It’s only around 359 yards in length and its best to stay right. If the pin position is on the left, you will thank me for asking you to stay on the right. The left side of the fairway is full of trees and can hamper your second shot, unless you are a master of the 130 yard bump and run with a hook in your pocket!! As long as you stay out of the bunker on the right of the green, you should be alright.

2_17th Par 5

Now begins the tough stretch. Holes 4 and 5 are just nasty and the 6th is not far behind! Hole 4 is an uphill par 3, around 180 yards in length. The green does not accept a well struck shot and you will find yourself in the light rough to the back. Better to be short than long. 5th is the handicap 1 hole on the course and the fairway is skirted by high rise condominiums to the right and trees to the left. It then veers off to the right. Take a hybrid to the center, unless you are brave enough to go over the tree. Just don’t hook or slice your ball or you will be severely punished. There is a pond immediately where the fairway curves to the right. Only the long hitters will bring this into play. Due to the wind, I found myself hitting a 5 wood into the green (the Par 4 is only 380 yards long) and still ended up 5 yards short of the green. The 6th is a dogleg left with another pond in the middle of the fairway which really does not come into play. Play your second into an uphill green and make your way to the 7th.

5_Green on hole 10, framing resorts world

The par 4, 7th hole plays 424 yards and curves ever so slightly to the right. The green is narrow and with bunkers on both sides, it’s a tough ask to get par. I would actually make this the handicap 1 hole on the course but I am not the architect so I don’t get a say in this. The 8th is probably the signature hole on the course. It’s a short, 130 yards par 3 with water surrounding the green. If you blade the ball, then forget about it stopping on the green. It’s better to hit a high soft shot into the green and ensure your ball stops on the correct tier. If you do find the water, the drop area is to the left of the tee box, around 80 yards to the pin.

x_bunkers around 4th green

The 9th is a routine par 5 with the water feature complicating matters a bit. If you do manage to hit your drive around 250 you will be left with a 210 yard approach to the green; definitely gettable for the reasonably long hitters. I even managed to miss a 5 foot birdie putt on what is probably one of the easier holes on the course.

The back-nine starts from the opposite side of the parking lot and is a short walk away. By my reckoning the fun does not start till you hit the back nine. The back nine, for me, is more challenging and fun than the front nine which has a more resort-type feel to it. The 10th hole is a 400 yard par 4. There is a slight hump at around 220 yards from the tee. If you think that you will get some roll, then you are mistaken. I saw my drive clear the hump and when I got to the ball I was surprised to see that my ball had barely made it down the slope. ‘Hmm’, I thought, and looked at my caddy, who merely shook her head. Maybe she was just dismissing my chances of shooting a low round on the back-nine. Anyways, I shook off all negative thoughts and smacked my second into the green and putted in for birdie. A good enough start which was about to go south but one which I was yet unaware of. The 11th is a tight hole with a narrow fairway. To compound your bad luck, there are two bunkers squeezing the fairway on the optimal landing spot. The green is guarded by 4 bunkers of varying difficulty. I found the one to the left of the green and proceeded to splash out enough sand to cover the green twice over!

x_Hole number 9, water lurks

The 12th is a beautiful par 3, with water to the front and right and OB on the left. In the background you can see the skyway entrance. It’s a 145 yarder and nothing more than an 8 iron is needed. The 13th is an entirely different matter though. It’s a long straight par 5 which plays uphill and downhill. Bunkers guard the fairway with OB all along the left. It’s only 457 yards in length and is definitely reachable in 2. I hit a beautiful drive which split the fairway and found myself between clubs for my second. I chose a 5 iron and hit it clean, or so I thought till I found my ball curving to the right. I had hit the rough to the right of the hole but duly pitched onto the big green with my 3rd. The green is undulating and slow. Be careful to give the ball a good whack or you may find yourself 3 putting like I did.

Tee Box hole 11

The 14th is a 405 yard par 4 with water to the left and right. There is a small pond fronting the tee box but is there purely for cosmetic purposes and to throw you off your game. Unless you hit putter from the tee, the water really does not come in to play. The 15th is my favourite hole on the course. It’s a drivable par 4 around 265 yards in length. There is a bunker to the left of the fairway around 40 yards to the green. There is a pond to catch the slice and the green actually slopes down to this pond. The 16th is a 200 yard slightly uphill par 3. The green sits a little above the tee box and is framed by 2 bunkers on the left and right. The back of the green has 3 grassy knolls which sit slightly above the green. Be careful not to overhit your tee shot. The 17th is a 518 yard par 5 gettable in 2 and the sight of my greatest collapse. The fairway meanders gently to the right and I found my drive actually sailing towards the left of the fairway. I managed to end up in a good position to attack the pin. In trying to get to the green in 2, I actually overswung and ended up catching the ball fat and saw my ball dribble 100 yards down the fairway. Not bad, I was still on the fairway with a chance of getting on the green in regulation. I hit a routine 7 iron and missed right. The green is guarded by 2 bunkers on the left and 1 on the right. I missed the bunker and ended up in rough. There’s rough and then there’s the rough that surrounded the green that day. It was overgrown and I huffed and puffed but was unable to blow the house down!! After 2 unsuccessful hacks at the ball, I choked down on a 3 wood and hit down on the ball to get it out. Let’s just say that if Lazarus was still alive today, we would have gladly reverted to his grave after my attempt at the 3-wood hack.

x_Hole 14 with water

Note# If you cannot get the ball out with your wedge, don’t try the 3 wood, don’t try any wood actually.

After seeing my score on that hole taking up more space on the scorecard, I moved to the 18th. The striking feature about this hole is that there are 2 bamboo trees that sit in the middle of the fairway at around 180 yards. They don’t really come into play if you can drive 220 but if your ball manages to hit those trees then it’s bye-bye ball! It’s a 377 yard Par 4 and not the most difficult closing hole. I escaped with a bogey after a customary bad second shot which overshot the green and left me scrambling. I had finished the front nine at 4 over and yet contrived to shoot 92. The back nine left me completely drained. I would happily say that this was the most Jekyll and Hyde round ever!

In the time I have been playing golf, I have frequented a lot of courses both in and out of the country. Villamor will not rank in my top 10 beautiful courses or top 10 toughest courses. Where it does rank is in my top 3 of ‘Must Play’ courses. Why, you ask? It is accessible. It is challenging. It exudes an old world charm and a sense of camaraderie where most courses fail. Not in many courses can you be sitting next to a bunch of complete strangers from really all walks of life, different social backgrounds, different age groups, all talking about how they got beat by this course. “Damn, it looks easy, but it sure is challenging” was what the 85 year old Japanese gentleman sitting next to me remarked. I agreed silently, marking down a spot in my calendar for my next outing. I have got to beat this course and get a caddy who does not smirk at my attempts to do so!

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Golf Meetup December – South Forbes

December 8, 2013, 6:34 pm

≫ Next: How to Use GolfPH (new dashboard)

≪ Previous: Course Review: Villamor Golf Club

South Forbes
In town for the holidays and want to get a quick round?

If you are looking for a different course to play at, or want to meet other golfers… here’s the perfect chance.

Join us for our December Golf Meetup.

Date: December 13, 2013
Time: Meeting time 8:00 am, Tee-off at 8:30 am
Location: South Forbes Golf Club (Brgy. Inchican, Silang Cavite)
Directions:
Carpool: Please let me know if you need a ride or are willing to carpool so I could arrange it. Email me!
Golf Clubs: Golf clubs can be rented at the course for 1000 php.
Course Rules: Every golfer should know the club rules, please see at this link for details:

http://www.ngaponline.net/images/RULES OF GOLF 2012 – 2015.pdf

Contact: For any questions or to join the event, please contact Grace at Grace@golfph.com or text me at 0905.378.4761

Must RSVP 24 hours before day of event.

See you there.

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How to Use GolfPH (new dashboard)

December 25, 2013, 9:01 pm

≫ Next: A List of Golf Tournaments for February 2014

≪ Previous: Golf Meetup December – South Forbes

So how does GolfPH work?

In the past… if you wanted to use one of our services such as getting a discount, playing access or our golf concierge… you had to call or email us.

It did the job, but it was a lot of work. It was time consuming. It required a lot of going back and forth and simply put, we needed a better solution.

So we asked you guys.

What can we do to improve our service?

And you guys spoke. Besides getting bigger discounts and more courses, there were 3 main things that you guys wanted.

Easier way to book tee times
More community involvement (or a way to meet the other GolfPH members)
More events (tournaments, meetups, golf tours… etc)

Well we listened, and we’ve responded.

Introducing the new… GolfPH Membership Dashboard.

Within our membership dashboard, there are a lot of features… but since we are short on time, we’ll highlight just 3.

New Booking Form – Playing at one of our courses is now as easy as 3 steps. Here is how you would do it:

Step 1: Choose a course – Take a look at the chart on our dashboard with a list of all of our partner courses. Look at their prices and discounts offered.
Step 2: Booking Form – Choose the course you want to play at and input the day and time requested. Once the information is sent… one of our concierge agents will call the course, see if that time is available and book your reservation for you. If the time is not available, then we will find out what other time slots are available and will email you back in 24 business hours.
Step 3: Show Up to the Course – Once your tee time reservation is set, all you have to do is show up to the course, show them your golfph id, pay for your green fees and then golf.

Forum – The forum is where you can discuss and chat about various topics golf related. You’ll also have the ability to directly message the other members and join groups.

Events and Meetups Section – This section is for members to join or invite other members to their golf outings. Have a flight of 2 and don’t mind meeting new people. Post your event. Have a tournament or play every wed… post it.

Other Features

To use the new membership dashboard, you must be a member. To get the complete list of features, you must login to the dashboard. If you’re not a member, what are you waiting for? Click here to sign up.

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A List of Golf Tournaments for February 2014

January 26, 2014, 8:41 pm

≫ Next: Clark Sun Valley Golf and Country Club

≪ Previous: How to Use GolfPH (new dashboard)

A List of Golf Tournaments for February 2013

Feb 1, 8, 22: Tournament of Aces Alta Vista

Feb 15: Monthly Medal Alta Vista

Feb 3: Fil-Am Fellowship Canlubang Golf

Feb 10: Fellowship Tournament Canlubang Golf

Feb 16: Monthly Challenge Canlubang Golf

Feb 18-21: www.express-dhl Tournament Canlubang Golf

Feb- Valentines Golf Tournament Canyon Woods Golf

Feb 4: Dante Pacheco Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Feb 5: Golf Adventure/ Big in Golf USA Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Feb 10: Phil. Golf Holiday Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Feb 17: Annual 13th Valentines Tournament Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Feb 21: rep Yang Yong Eun Co.

Feb 12: Don Bosco Mimosa Golf

Feb 13: Mimosa Senior Mimosa Golf

Feb 27: Pampanga Association Tour Mimosa Golf

Feb 28: Philippine Rotary Club Mimosa Golf

Feb 1: 4th Kalahig Cup (tentative) South Forbes Golf City

Feb 2: Manila Polo Club Golf Tournament South Forbes Golf City

Feb 3: Malvea President’s Cup South Forbes Golf City

Feb 7: 3G Golf Tournament South Forbes Golf City

Feb 12: Golf Get Away South Forbes Golf City

Feb 14: Tamaraw Golf Club South Forbes Golf City

Feb 21: Laguna Chambers of Commerce Koko Cup South Forbes Golf City

Feb 3: Balikbayan Golf Tournament (Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Feb 5: Manila Sanitarium Golf Tournament(Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Feb 7: ASIA-American Golf Club (Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Feb 24-26: La Salle Alumni Bro. Ben Memorial Tour (Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Feb 26: La Salle HS 64 (Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Feb 25-27: Mini Tour For Balikbayan (Tentative) The Orchard Golf & Country Club

Feb 10: Manila Golf Paradise The Riviera Golf & Country Club (easy hard course)

Feb 11: The Riviera Ladies Tournament (Tentative) The Riviera Golf & Country Club (easy hard course)

Feb 12: Golf Tournament (Tentative) The Riviera Golf & Country Club (easy hard course)

Feb 28: Golf Tournament (Tentative) The Riviera Golf & Country Club (easy hard course)

Feb 26: 53 rd Valley Intra Club Valley Golf & Country Club

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Clark Sun Valley Golf and Country Club

January 28, 2014, 9:59 pm

≫ Next: Ponderosa Golf Club

≪ Previous: A List of Golf Tournaments for February 2014

clark sun valley golf & country club

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