Philippine Independence Day Golf Tournament 2016

By: Maria Girlie Pascual

 

The forecast did not lie– it was the best day of the week. Sunny, cool and dry, organizers, golfers and different leagues looked forward to having a great round. Countryside Golf Course in Mundelein is a sprawling and a challenging venue for the throng of players that come to pay homage to the Philippine holiday by engaging others that come yearafter- year to play golf. This year, it was the actual date, June 12, that the tournament was held and it felt all the more special to all of us.

The Fil-Am Lake County golfers hosted this year’s Philippine Independence Golf Tournament or PIDT for the first time and chose Countryside Golf Course with its 27 holes of hills and undulating topography for the event. Sixteen golf leagues registered their teams and showed up in their bright colored, collared shirts with logos, ready to pay and play, competing for different categories. These include individual trophies as well as team awards, trophies, cash prizes and golf paraphernalia. A white food tent was put up alongside the clubhouse for about 180 golfers that were either happy with their game, or were happier eating after a grueling round.

The Fil-Am Lake Golfers, spouses, family members and other volunteers were on hand to greet the players, register them and were also at the tee boxes for pictures, information, or just to make the player’s experience enjoyable. The food was abundant and delicious, and this year’s Filipino menu was a hit with the players, a welcome change from the regular buffet of burgers, hot dogs, barbecue fare served up by most golf courses. A DJ kept the mood at the tent light and lively and the requisite raffle offered golf bags along with bags of rice. Hey, a Philippine holiday will not be complete without rice, I told my Caucasian friend.

Finally, after the golf course staff finished with their calculations, the results came in with the 2016 Club Team Champs as ta daaaa! The hosting club, Fil-Am Lake County Golfers in first place, with Fullswing of St. Louis, Missouri in second place and wouldn’t you know it, the Asian American Golfers of Illinois (AAGI) in third place, winning over 13 other leagues that challenged each other that day.

Special mention to AAGI whose young player, Larry Fong, finished first in the Class A Category and is the 2016 Champion. Congratulations, Larry! Our ladies also came in winning– Carla Soria with Closest to the Pin and Ellen Ruiz, for having the Longest Drive, which were impressive given the fact that, sadly enough, the Fil-Am Lake Golfers decided NOT to include a Ladies Division in this year’s tournament for reasons unclear to anyone since this has been traditional now for the last 18 years since I have been joining this prestigious tournament way back in 1998.

This will probably be the only criticism I have for this year’s PIDT outing, and I hope the future hosts for next year’s event, the Senior Golfers of Illinois will take note and realize that us ladies practice, compete, spend money and time, and love this sport as much as the men do, and the fact that we show up year after year to support the PIDT should have earned us a permanent category in all the events no matter who hosts it.

I, a female golfer, have been covering this event yearly for Via Times, and was surprised to find out that there was no Ladies category for an award, a big and disappointing decision that I respectfully challenge the organizers with. Well, there is indeed next year, and yes, the event was well organized and fun for all, but speaking for the lady players of Fil-Am Lake, they deserve their own spot as well. I played with Joanne Ordeste that day and she could easily whip any man’s “you know what” with her awesome game. I’m just saying..

Until next year then, oh, golfing gentlemen..and WOMEN… see you all on the green!###

Our team – Asian American Golfers of Illinois or AAGI.

The Philippine Golf Club PGC with Bert Roman, founder of the Philippine Independence Day Tournament.

The Philippine Senior Golfers with Club President Andy Justo.

PIDT Club Champion 2016 Fil-Am Lake County Golfers- Congratulations and thank you for hosting!

The Philswing Ladies- lovely in lavander.

eam Tamaraw in full force and in royal blue color.