BIZ BUZZ: Golf tourney awards revoked; what’s next?

Following the public uproar over the controversial results of its golf tournament, the board of Alabang Country Club, the beleaguered club to which this column alluded yesterday, decided on Monday night to nullify the awards given to teams from two political dynasties.

The two teams—one of which won the “overall net” or the highest tournament award, and the runner-up team that also bagged Division 3 championship—were asked to return the trophies given to them on Saturday during the Mango Tee awarding ceremony.

This was as the club became the talk of the town after the top players had garnered scores that fellow participants found too good to be true.

One team (the pair of Ronin Leviste and Darren Flores) was accused of sandbagging, while the other (the pair of Luis Raymund Villafuerte and Francis Edward Francisco) was accused of having a golf pro (Francisco) in what was supposed to be a tournament for amateurs.

In stripping the two teams of their awards, the board cited their “highly unusual and statistically improbable submitted scores.”

The resolution further noted that it was a unanimous board decision to withdraw the awards conferred during the Mango Tee awarding rites on Feb. 7.

“As a first step it’s good, but the membership will clamor for expulsion,” said one club source, recalling how another storied golf club in the metropolis had dealt with a similar issue about a year ago.

Had the organizing committee not proven to be fickle in correcting the handicap of Leviste, another club source said the issue would not have escalated.