Zaragosa rules ICTSI Iloilo Golf Challenge

ILOILO CITY -- Rupert Zaragosa ruled the ICTSI Iloilo Golf Challenge presented by MORE Power, closing with a one-over-par 71 at the Iloilo Golf and Country Club in Sta. Barbara on Saturday.

It was the worst score for the 25-year-old former prodigy from Davao but it hardly mattered after opening the day with an eightshot lead.

“I’m very happy about my first win,” said Zaragosa, his shirt drenched with sweat and water. “This win is for my family and loved ones.”

On hand to greet Zaragosa on the 18th green was his girlfriend Pamela Mariano and fellow pros Jerson Balasabas and Albin Engino who doused him with water.

The nine-shot victory ended a string of come-from-behind triumphs that marked the start of both the men’s and women’s tours.

Whatever hopes his pursuers were nursing were quickly dashed when Zaragosa birdied 4 and 6. He parred the next six holes and countered a bogey on 13 with a birdie on 14.

Zaragosa had the luxury of closing his round with three bogeys. What made the day interesting was the exciting battle for second place won by Tony Lascuna whose back-to-back birdies from

12 helped cushion a double bogey on 15 and a bogey on 16.

“I’m so tired. I’m happy to finish second,” said Lascuna who carded a 70 for 4-under overall.

Guido van der Valk turned in a 73 and finished on 3-under, his round marred by back-to-back double bogeys from 16.

“I’ve always thought Rupert is a good golfer,” said Van der Valk.

Only three other players finished under par after 72 holes.

Jhonnel Ababa climbed to a share of fourth place with Sean Jean Ramos on 2-under while Balasabas wound up on 1-under.

Ababa fired a 65, Ramos shot a 67 and Balasabas matched Zaragosa’s third-round 63.

Alone in seventh on even par was Jay Bayron who checked in on 72.

Engino and Richard Sinfuego were tied on 1-over after similar 70s while Michael Bibat rounded out the Top 10 on 2-over following a 73.

The tour takes a three-week break before it returns on 17 April at the Caliraya Springs Golf Club in Cavinti, Laguna.

Moses Billacura

THE ADVANTAGE OF FILIPINO-FOREIGN ATHLETES

The recent ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships at the Ilagan City Sports Complex have clearly shown that the majority of Filipino-Foreign athletes have shown their dominance.

Why has this been the case?

Well, there are a lot of factors to consider.

We must admit that Filipino-Foreign athletes trained at a young age, with better facilities and coaches, nutrition including sponsors, abroad.

Unlike in the Philippine situation, we have athletes whose first priority is to break away from poverty. So, they become athletes in order to become school varsities. That would mean, free board and lodging, tuition and allowance, thanks to the school sports directors who discovered them through their contacts. Once they earned a university degree, they have to find work to support themselves and their families.

I don’t mean to belittle our athletics program, but this has been the reality.

If and only if they perform well, they get the chance to compete in the National Championships, and in the process gets recruited to the national team.

The Filipino-Foreign athletes would go through the same process, but on a better route.

In the first place, they are not driven to get out of poverty. The support system is already in place. Support system means parents can afford to back them up, the schools have complete facilities, professional coaches and nutritionists are available. On top of that, they have a vibrant athletics program, especially in the U.S.

That reminded me of David Buenevacz of the UCLA who was the first Filipino-Foreign athlete that we encountered during the Philippine National Games in Cebu City many moons ago.

I remember him competing in Cebu after being invited by then Philippine Sports Commission chairman Popoy Juico through PATAFA president Go Teng Kok. David stayed in the Philippines and represented the country in the SEA Games.

As expected, he made his mark in the throwing events. But as to their plan for the Olympics, of course, everyone in the sports community know that did not happen. After the SEA Games, David was no longer in the sports stage. Life happens, as they say.

If you take a close look at the news report of our good friend Jean Malanum, you can see the names of the Filipino-Foreign athletes at the top. In fact, some of them registered better times that would actually qualify them to represent the country to the SEA Games this coming May.

But that decision falls down to PATAFA officials, if they will be sent to the SEA Games, so we’ll see.

In the Davao athletics scene, we are lucky to have two rubberized ovals available for training. One at the privately-owned University of Mindanao and the other one at the government-owned Davao City-UP Mindanao Sports Complex.

The Davao City Track and Field Association (DCTAFA) re- cently organized the Araw ng Dabaw Athletics Meet at the UM Campus, thanks to the generosity of UM big boss Willie Torres for the use of the world-class track oval.

Sa una, yuta ra na, pero karon, rubberized na gayud.

This begs the question of how can we be at par with Filipino-Foreign track and field athletes?

We can actually do that in Davao. The training facilities are available, what we will need is to funnel training money to the DCTAFA.

Regular competitions should be organized whole-year round, not just two to three days, and that’s it, then wait for several months for another track meet.

We are glad that Milo, our favorite drink since 1974, has continued to support running competitions, from local going up to the nationals.

If not for Milo, our runners cannot look forward to competing in a national race.

Therefore, athletics should be continually supported because the cost is less compared to backing team sports.

Do not get me wrong. We still have to support team sports. But if we would like also to win medals in the international stage, individual sports is the answer.

That has been proven by weightlifting. If you go to Zamboanga City, you will see that the weightlifting program has been in place there for several decades.

So, emerged the great Jaime Sebastian in the 1970s. And eventually, Hidilyn Diaz. Both are from far-away Zamboanga.

Now, with two world class track ovals in Davao, I believe we can produce star athletes who can perform better than Filipino-Foreign athletes.

Give DCTAFA the training money, and you’ll get the results in a few years time.

Right Kenneth Sai and boss Willie Torres?

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