Bridging the missing link
More than a decade ago, I became an advocate for College golf. Time and again I wrote in my columns that we needed to establish College golf.
Not just tournaments that involved college students but something substantial that would be institutionalized. I knew then that college golf was the missing link in the golfing careers of our junior golfers — those who leave junior golf once they turn 18 years of age. In short and simple language there was no continuity, no venue for the young adult to practice and hone his golfing skills and get a college education.
I would tell everyone who cared to listen that we needed to have College golf in order to complete the system that we started when we established Junior Golf. Looking back, I must have sounded like a lunatic back then.
Well, nobody seemed to listen. Nobody seemed to care except for Arsenic Laurel who established and organized an Intercollegiate Golf competition with the support of the Philippine Golf Foundation. I haven’t heard much about the tournament these days but right now there seem to be lots of interschool golf sprouting left, right and center.
Now everybody seems to be getting into the action with different formats, various venues and lots of interested sponsors that knew a good event and cause when they saw one. Well and good, you might say. The more the merrier, the better chance for our junior golfers to play and excel.
But (there will always be a but…) I saw that there was something lacking that should be essential to the system: the participation of the schools. Interschools and Intercollegiate tournaments that do not involve the schools that they represent are mere side events that come and go as their sponsors come and go.
The imprimatur of the Colleges and Universities as well as their involvement is needed for College golf to be successful and to make sure that College golf will be there for the long-term.
There are things in College golf that Colleges and Universities bring to the equation. Essentials like scholarships, alumni donors, support and involvement and most important of all, school spirit.
I was then ecstatic when it was announced that the UAAP and the NCAA have agreed to include golf in their athletic calendars. At last we now have the start of College golf that really matters.
Just to complete the cycle of my “involvement” in College golf, I hope that I could make a few suggestions on what the competition should evolve into. Actually, we really do not need to reinvent the wheel. We can just get ideas from the way US NCAA does its competitions.
First is that the competitions shouldn’t just be a one time-big time tournament. It should extend over 6 months to a year with monthly home-and-home Ryder Cup style games where the teams accumulate points. This is going to be possible and interesting because golf clubs have been adopting UAAP and NCAA teams. Their home course would be the one that adopted them.
Every quarter there should be a stroke-play team competition among all the teams where points can also be earned. And at the end of the season, the winning team would be the team that has the most points.
This way the training and preparation of the team goes on for the entire year and by having a format like this, College golf can become the source of talents for the Philippine team that represents the country in the Putra Cup and other international amateur tournaments.
After graduation, turning pro can also be a possibility. Now we will have professionals who have other options in life aside from earning a living from playing golf. Our pros should really come from College golf.
The structure for the continuing development of Philippine golf is finally in place.
