As this is written Antonio “Onyot” Lascuña has all but won the Order of Merit on the ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour. This is the cherry on top of a truly remarkable season for the affable professional from Davao City who earlier in the month finished 12th on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit after playing just 15 events.

The success is well deserved and couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Lascuña is one of the most pleasant and most approachable of our local golf professionals. He has a ready smile and a pleasant word for everyone he meets. He is truly one of the good guys in Philippine golf.

He also possesses one of the best golf games in the country. I’ve periodically described Onyot’s style of play as “steady Eddie”; he’s usually in the fairway and always in position to score. He has a superb short game and after a short bout of indecisiveness with the flat stick is now one of the finest putters in the country. He has not been out of the top 3 in any of the tournaments he’s played on the Philippine Golf Tour; a testament to his consistency.

Even more remarkable is the fact that he felt compelled to make a small change to his golf swing. With the help of Manila Southwoods teaching professional J3 Altea, Lascuña now stands a bit shorter up to the ball and swings more around his body. He did this to better keep the club on plane throughout his golf swing. The results show.

Walking with Onyot, Miguel Tabuena and the legend, Frankie Miñoza yesterday at Wack Wack’s notoriously difficult East Course, I watched in amazement as Lascuña methodically picked the course apart with 6 birdies (including three in a row on 16, 17 and 18) against 1 lone bogey. It wasn’t a bad bogey either. After putting his ball in perfect position on the short treacherous 7th hole, he hit a crisp wedge just below the pin which spun straight back into the water hazard fronting the green. He signed for a 5-under par 67 and a 6-shot lead over Angelo Que and his closest pursuer on the Philippine Golf Tour’s Order of Merit, Elmer Salvador. He’s going to have to screw up big time to give the others any hope of catching him and knowing Onyot, that just isn’t going to happen.

- From the Rules of Golf

It is this that sets golf apart from any sport or game that I have played and it is one of the reasons that golf has come to mean so much to myself and many others. It is therefore unfortunate that the game is contaminated by those that cannot or will not abide by this most fundamental tenet.

Being around the game, we all know people of this sort. They must win at all costs even if they need to resort to some underhanded means to do so. Which begs the question; if you cheat and win a golf tournament, what is it that makes you proud? Are you proud of the dastardly deed that got you the trophy? Are you proud of the fact that you are now scorned and reviled by your peers? Are you proud of the fact that they now think of you as a liar and a cheat? Are you proud of the fact that this reputation will follow you and hound you in every facet of your life beyond golf?

I ask you, what could possibly be worth that? It is bad enough that corruption and dishonesty permeates the very fabric of society but to have it soil the sanctity of the fairways is unconscionable. I have often been asked what can possibly be done about people like this in a sport that polices itself. The answer lies with us, fellow golfers.

The unscrupulous will only continue to cheat us, if we consent to it. They might leave the course with the trophy, but it is incumbent on us to make sure that they likewise leave it with our ire, disdain and outrage. Evil cannot stand the light of scrutiny and we should do all that we can to make sure that the whole golfing community knows who these cheats are. Shout out their names from the clubhouse verandas and post their pictures in social media. Make the social penalty for such dastardly actions so severe that even the blackest of hearts will think thrice before padding their handicaps or turning in fictitious score cards.

Are you with me?

I can’t believe that it’s been a year since issue volume 1 issue 1. So much has happened in the intervening year that I’m not sure I know where to begin. My mind is a blur.

We have many people to thank for our success; our partners and investors who believed in us enough to invest their hard earned money to make Impact a reality. Much credit for Impact’s success goes to Susan San Pascual, our tireless sales and marketing director; without her hard work and passion this magazine would be nothing but a dream. It is a direct result of her efforts that we are here today.

We owe so much to our managing editor Katrina “KV” Villareal who manages to keep the department running in spite of her duties as a full time mother. Our heartfelt thanks to the rest without whom our operations would grind to a halt; Liza, Mart, Ems, Darwin, Joe and our contributors – where would we be without you all?

Of course we would be remiss to forget our advertisers. Without your trust and belief in us, we would have shut our doors and printed our last page months ago. We are looking forward to more issues in partnership and service with you all. Special thanks to you, our loyal readers; we would not exist if not for your passion for the game.

We owe much to the game of golf and to show our gratitude, we are looking to give back; to help the game that has given us so much. We had planned, on behalf of Impact Magazine and Pinoygolfer Media, Inc. in cooperation with the Golf Managers League of the Philippines, to hold the 1st Philippines Golf Summit at the Mount Malarayat Golf and Country Club in Lipa City, Batangas on October 9-11 of this year. But logistical problems have forced the postponement of the event to a later date.

It would have been the intent of the Summit to bring all of the game’s stakeholders together so that we can collectively move the game forward to achieve the positive growth that the rest of our neighbours in Asia experience today. The inspiration for the 1st Philippines Golf Summit came from the Asia Pacific Golf Summit that was held in Pattaya, Thailand late last year. While that summit dealt with issues of growth of the game in the region, ours seeks to arrest the negative growth that has plagued golf in this country. We had planned to do this on two fronts; to market and increase awareness of the game of golf and the spur the growth of golf tourism in the country.

Golf is and has not been top of mind for those seeking a new sport or outdoor activity. The reasons are many but suffice it to say that all have had a negative effect on Filipinos taking up the game. It is therefore imperative that a full scale marketing movement be put in place and set in motion to reverse this trend. We in the golf industry need to start looking at our sport as a product competing with other sports and activities/products for the attention of our future and current enthusiasts. All successful companies market themselves and their products in today’s world, why should golf be any different?

The growth of golf tourism might seem obvious but hurdles remain that need to be surmounted for this industry to be able to grow unfettered. Many of our golf courses today rely on Korean to tourist Dollars to remain viable. But as significant as those monies might be, they are a drop in the bucket of what we could be making. Golf tourism is a US$50 billion industry worldwide and the percentage of that amount that currently reaches our shores is next to negligible. This seems a shame since our best golf courses are on par with any that you care to name in the region. With resources like this at our disposal, we should have no trouble increasing the amount of Dollars golf tourism brings to the country if the proper infrastructure and cooperation with the government agencies involved is set in place.

It is our fervent desire to give back to the game that has given us so much. We will do everything we can to make the Summit a reality. It is the least we can do for the game we love.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
By Robert Frost

When I turned 55 in March, I started working on my golf game again in earnest; determined to make a mark as a competitive senior golfer. After all, I still hit the golf ball a fair way. I don’t mind teeing it up from the tips with my friends on occasion and with the shorter courses set up for the seniors, I was sure that I’d have a pretty good advantage.

I knew there would be some adjustments to be made. For one, i had to figure out my strategy from the forward tees. It was a different golf course from up there and I had to play it correctly to get the best results. I’d played a couple of tournaments from the forward tees and had been stumped as to what to do off the tee. Just bombing it as far as I could wasn’t always the best option.

So when the qualifying round for Eagle Ridge’s club championships was announced, I stepped up my practice regimen. I chip and putt regularly and started hitting the driving range to work out the kinks in my swing. I also started playing the forward tees in my practice rounds to divine the best way to score from there.

On the day of the qualifying round, I played some decent golf. I was 3-over for 15 holes. Not bad right? Problem was I was 7-over on the other 3. Too much aggression off the tee cost me dearly and I thought I’d blown my chance. But as luck would have it I just squeaked into the last 8. I’d have my shot at glory in the match play portion of the club championships. As the 8th qualifier, I’d be up against the top seed but I didn’t really care. I was paired with him in the qualifying round and although he shot a phenomenal score, I knew at in a match play situation, I had a good chance to take him. I was 50-60 yards longer off the tee and on the longer Aoki Course, I knew that I could parlay that I not an advantage.

I resumed practicing with renewed vigor; I played thrice the week before my match. I was in with a shot and I liked my chances. I played the Aoki from the whites and took note of my clubbing on each of the tees, where to aim the tee shot and when to attack and when to play conservatively. Feeling sufficiently prepared, I went out and played some more, knowing that I would be more consistent with more rounds under my belt before my match.

I played well on the day of my match. I stuck to my game plan, played the course as I planned and was just 3-over through 17-holes when I lost the match 2&1. I was even par on our back nine too. How in heaven’s name did I lose?

My 75-year old opponent, a retired balikbayan from Virgina with two knee replacement surgeries played so consistently and wielded such a hot putter that I was at a loss of how to beat him. It didn’t matter i left him 50-yards behind me off the tee or that he had a hybrid in his hand when I had a pitching wedge going into the green. He made putt after putt after putt, some well over 20 feet in length to hold me off hole after hole. The two errors I made on the front nine were the difference in our match and try as I might, I couldn’t make the two holes up in the nine remaining holes. I got my butt kicked by someone old enough to be my father.

And that dear readers is the beauty of the game of golf. There is so much more for most of us to learn in the game. It doesn’t matter what your skill level or handicap is, we all have much to learn in this weird and wonderful game. So keep working at it. I know that I’m certainly not going to take this defeat lying down. I’m going to redouble my efforts to become a better golfer. I’m going to persevere and not despair for i have have miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep.

Please come watch the North vs. South matches. This is a first in Philippine Golf. The venue is the Alabang Country Club. It’s very accessible and admission is free.

See you there!

Rancho Palos Verdes is the first modern golf course constructed in the Davao City limits. Built by the Sta. Lucia Realty Corporation on the top of a ridge in what used to be a pomelo plantation in Barangay Mandug/Indangan, Buhangin District some thirteen kilometers outside the city proper, the course is a must-play for any golfer worth his salt on a visit to this fair city.

The 18-hole course was designed by the renowned design firm of Andy Dye, whose creations have captured the attention of golfers across the country who are as appalled by their difficulty as they are swayed by their beauty. Completed in 2001, the course has a feel mature beyond its years. The old growth rainforest and verdant vegetation that border the fairways have much to do with this. This feel is echoed by the tee boxes, which are really quite small by modern standards and seem more suited to an older course of local design. A golf cart is recommended; distances from some of the greens to the next set of tees are quite long on the rolling terrain.

Rancho Palos Verdes has a great variety of golf holes that demand a variety of shots from the golfer. The greens, in true Dye fashion, have significant undulations which making hitting the correct quadrant of the green a must to post a good score. From the championship tees, great accuracy, skill and boldness will be required as well as strength of character, classic “high-risk-high-reward-golf” at its best. However, these tees are best left to the professional of scratch golfer or those looking for cruel and unusual punishment. A premium is put on length off the tee as the course plays far longer than its 7039 yards would indicate. Playing the appropriate tees is instrumental to enjoying one’s game.

I first visited Rancho Palos Verdes in 2005 as the associate editor of the now defunct Swing magazine. I was impressed by its layout and the challenges it posed then and looked forward to renewing my acquaintance with the golf course. I was heartened to discover that the course had been well cared for and matured nicely. The course is characterized by some beautiful short par fours and gorgeous par threes. The finishing holes on both sides are brutal but more on them later.

Possibly the only shot I didn’t care for was the one that started my round. The first hole is 520-yard par five that doglegs slightly to the right and plays uphill all the way. On my first trip here in 2005, you had to carry a tree that was growing out of the hazard on the left which partially obscured the fairway to get into the ideal position for your second shot. Seven years on and the tree has grown considerably. Now so much of the fairway is obscured that the only target you have from the back tees is the fairway bunker on the right. I can’t believe that it was Dye’s intent to have everyone lay up short of the bunker to start the round. Perhaps it’s time for some judicious pruning to restore some measure of playability to the hole.

Two remains an intriguing hole, not so much that the 3-par plays 251-yards from the tips but because of the crocodile pond just to the left of the tee boxes. It’s not in play, of course, and provides a welcome diversion when you’re waiting for the flight ahead to finish. Four and five are the prettiest holes on the front side. The tee shot on four will take your breath away as the fairway sits a good hundred feet below the tee mounds. Deciding where to aim is the biggest challenge. Five is a gorgeous short par 4. Place your tee shot on the left center of the fairway to have a good shot into the well guarded green.

Number eight is a beautiful 5 par; at 509 yards it’s the one of the par fives reachable in two. A well-placed drive leaves you with a second shot that drops almost a hundred feet downhill to a green guarded by bunkers short and to the right. Place your tee shot just short of the fairway bunkers on the left to give yourself a shot at the green. Anything to the right side of the fairway will have your second hindered by the overhanging branches of the trees on the right.

Nine is the beast and although it carries the 2-handicap on the card, it is the most difficult hole on the golf course. At 474 from the gold tees, the second shot must negotiate a ravine that extends all the way to the front of the green. Even from the forward tees, this is a par five for the high handicapper. The exhilarating view of the town of Mandug and the vast banana plantation, meandering along the banks of the Davao River, offers some solace for strokes lost here.

Moving to the back side, the course opens up. Eleven is a gorgeous 196-yard par 3 to a large two-tiered green. The tees are set under large trees giving this hole a unique feel to it. Twelve is a 527-yard par 5 that doglegs to the left off the tee, then downhill to the right with water fronting the green. It is reachable in two but necessitates a well placed tee shot to gain position to attack the green. Pressure is put on the tee shot by old growth trees on the left putting a premium on working the ball into the left side of the fairway.

Thirteen is the signature hole, a 408-yard dogleg right to an island green. The fairway slopes sharply towards the water; a tee shot to the left side of the fairway just skirting the hazard will put you in the best position to attack the green. Fourteen is another short, very picturesque par 4. At 364 from the tips, the tee shot takes you over the lake with the island green of fourteen on your right. The second shot plays uphill to a large but shallow green.

Seventeen is a beautiful par 3, playing 196 yards downhill to a large green. The bunker complex on the left is to be avoided at all cost as tall grasses inside the main bunker will severely punish the errant tee shot. Eighteen is the one handicap hole. Though not as difficult as number nine, at 443 yards long and playing uphill all the way, it will test even the longest hitters. The green slopes away towards the ravine making it important to land the approach just short to have any chance of stopping on the green.

I was captivated with the beauty and playability of Rancho Palos Verdes on my first trip here and this recent visit has reinforced those emotions. It is a very pleasant, very beautiful golf course. It’s a must play for anyone planning a golf trip to the City of Davao.

Images by Mike Besa and Marty Ilagan

The doglegs present yet another test. Local knowledge dictates that you play away from the dogleg but far enough down the fairway to give yourself a clean shot at the green. This is to avoid the overhanging branches of the very tall trees that define the fairways.

The greens, though large, are reminiscent of old Donald Ross designs shaped like inverted saucers. You’ll need to have your short game in good shape if you expect to post a good score. The greens are difficult to read because the breaks are so subtle but they roll very well so if you start the ball on the correct line, it will invariably find the hole.

Apo Golf is famous for the number of top golfers that it has produced. Antonio Lascuña, Felix “Cassius” Casas, Elmer Salvador, Bong Lopez, Elmer Saban, Jhonnel Ababa and many, many more have honed their skills on Apo’s fairways since the course opened in 1968. As tough as the course plays, it is small wonder that the golfers it produces develop the requisite skills to navigate its fairways.

Apo Golf is a must play for the serious golfer and one of the most severe tests of golf in the country.

For golfers looking to tee it up in Pattaya, a game at the historic Siam Country Club is an absolute must. The Club is home to two wonderful golf courses including the first privately owned course in the country which gives in a unique place in the history of golf in Thailand. The Siam Country Club is located just 20 minutes drive from Pattaya. There are two courses a few kilometres apart, both with their own excellent clubhouses and facilities.

The Old Course was the first privately owned golf course in Thailand. Work began on the course in 1969 and was first played in 1971. The course was originally created by Japanese course designer Isao Izumi but was completely redeveloped in 2006 by Schmidt-Curley Design who rebuilt and created new bunkers as well as totally renovating the fairways and greens. The Clubhouse was also refurbished to the modern standard of comfortม and reopened in March 2007. The result is an astoundingly good golf. It has played host to four Thailand open Championships in the past and hosted the LPGA Tournament since 2007. It is a joy to play for golfers of all abilities.

The Old Course is set in low hills and the fairways are lined by mature trees but cleverly spaced to allow a cool breeze to refresh players. The course is a Par 72 and is set out in a traditional out and back layout. The fairways play past numerous water hazards including strategically placed lakes and streams. The course rewards long, straight driving and the excellently manicured greens play fast and true. The Siam Country Club Old Course is commonly accepted to be among the best in Thailand and playing it is a must for golfers visiting Pattaya.

The course that concerns us is the newer Schmidt & Curley designed 27 hole Plantation Course located just a short distance from the Old Course. Opened in April 2008, the Plantation Course is more modern and spectacular than the Old Course. Nowhere is this more evident than the incredible 28,000 square foot verdant triple green nestled below the clubhouse. The course is set on land previously used as sugar cane, pineapple and tapioca plantations from which it takes its name and is located among a series of natural rolling hills and offers stunning views of the ocean. The Plantation is acknowledged to be extremely challenging and the three 9-hole loops offer the golfer tremendous variety. Each nine offers spectacular scenery and a visit to the Siam Country Club Plantation Course is widely regarded as one of the best day’s golf in the area.

The fairways are planted with Seashore Paspalum, an immensely popular type of grass in tropical and subtropical coastal area. The variety’s hardiness and leaf structure make it very suitable and easy to maintain. The greens are sodden with Novotek ultra-dwarf Bermuda which makes for a very true, very quick putting surface. A unique “bird-wing” inspired clubhouse sits on a hill providing sweeping vistas of the property. Inspiring views of the golf course are visible from almost every corner of the magnificent structure.

A testament to the quality of golf here is the fact that the Plantation Course plays host to the Ladies Professional Golfers Association’s Honda Open, the only Ladies Tour’s only even in the country. Former world number 1 Lorena Ochoa is a former winner. Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis, Michelle Wie, Ai Miyazato and a galaxy of the stars of the women’s game are regulars at Siam Country Club whenever the Ladies Tour rolls into town.

I got a chance to play the Plantation Course and left very impressed with the golf course, the facilities, the fastidiousness of the maintenance and the friendliness and efficiency of the people there. This is a wonderful place to play golf and is in my estimation the best golf facility in Pattaya. Siam Country Club is a world class facility and offers some of the best golf in all of Thailand.

It is a must for anyone looking to golf in the kingdom.

Bettinardi Signature 3
The Bettinardi Signature 3 is all about aesthetics and feel. This timeless design is a classic blade putter machined out of a single piece of Bettinardi’s proprietary Double Aged Stainless Steel (D.A.S.S.). The Signature 3 features the Bettinardi trademark honeycomb face milling to assure the flattest putting surface possible.

I am drawn to this putter because the very first putter I ever played with, a MacGregor Tommy Armour Silver Scott, is this head shape. I have many good memories of my rounds with it but also remember what an uncompromising piece of work it was. Putt the ball well and you can do no wrong. Putt poorly and you won’t have a place to hide. The Signature 3 takes the best of this design, the ease and intuitiveness of alignment and adds a measure of forgiveness and playability. The Signature 3 has a blade almost twice the length of my old Mac and is so much easier to line up. It has lost none of the feel either. The feel at impact is unlike any other stainless steel putter and is complemented by the medium sized leather stitchback grip. The grip will take a bit of getting used to but many will probably not take to it. Good thing that local distributor Red Golf will configure the putter for you with whatever grip you desire.

Where this putter truly shines is in its aesthetics. It is a playable work of art. It is functional modern sculpture for the discerning golfer. The Signature 3 is a modern classic and deserves a place in the putter connoisseur’s collection. This is just an awesome putter. In terms of weight, balance, aesthetics and performance, this is the best putter of this head shape that I’ve tried thus far.

Bettinardi Studio Stock 9
It’s nigh on impossible to be neutral about Robert Bettinardi’s milled masterpieces. The work on them is of such high quality that everyone we know that’s wielded one on the greens has wound up coughing up the money to make it his own. The Studio Stock 9 is another in this esteemed line.

A wide body heel-toe weighted design, the Studio Stock 9 finds its roots in Bettinardi’s JAM (Jason Alread Model) putter. The wide body design increases the putter’s moment of inertia which increases forgiveness on off-center hits. The raised toe allows for ease of alignment when the putter is in the address position. It’s a subtle design improvement which has proved extremely effective on the greens. The signature honeycomb milling on the putterface is augmented by Bettinardi’s patented F.I.T. Face milling which serves to get the ball rolling with a minimum of skidding. The F.I.T. Face makes the feel at impact extremely soft which is a huge help with distance control and a trait prized by putter cognoscenti.

More to the point, once I put the Studio Stock 9 in my bag, I just couldn’t swap it out without remorse. Again, from an overall standpoint, the balance, aesthetics and the performance are second to none. The finish on the 2012 Studio Stock series while not as striking as the 2011 line is still stunning. I love the look at address; the slightly high toe design of the JAM series combined with the wide body semi-mallet look produce a putter that just looks and feels right. Balance is superb and don’t even get me started about the feel at impact. It’s so good that the demo never made it back to Red Golf. It’s found a permanent home in my bag as my gamer.

It’s that good.

March was a milestone month for me. I turned 55 on the day of the 1st Impact Golf Cup. This marks the beginning of my career as a senior golfer.

Really, I can’t believe this time has come. Apart from a few more aches and pains, I don’t feel too different than I did a few years ago. I still tee it up on the blue tees during my casual rounds and I like to think that I’m still competitive from there. I do have a few trophies that back up that assertion. In fact on the odd occasion and in the company of the right foursome, I’ll even tee it up from the tips without too much stress. I rather enjoy pushing myself as I have in other sports in my pre-golf life.

But the calendar doesn’t lie. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I relish the odd chance to play tournaments from the forward tees. After all, the course is much shorter from there and I really haven’t lost much distance off the tee or with my irons. It should be a cakewalk.

Well, it really isn’t. Playing the forward tees presents a different set of problems as I found out first hand when I played my first tournament as a senior. The tournament was the Maxim Golf Cup and the venue was Sherwood Hills Golf Club, a layout with which I am very familiar. From the back tees.

We started on the back nine and Sherwood Hills general manager Raymond Bunquin was kind enough to allow me to start on number 10. So I tee up my ball, look down the fairway and I’m at an utter loss; I have no idea which club to use or where to aim. For those unfamiliar with this hole, number 10 at Sherwood Hills is a short par 4 with water all the way up the left side of the fairway and a huge phalanx of bunkers on the right. The fairway doglegs just a touch to the right and the hazard curves around the dogleg and also guards the left side of the green. From the back tees it’s a straightforward 3-wood up the fairway then a wedge to the green. From the forward tees, a 3-wood would probably roll into the hazard at the end of the fairway.

After some consideration, I take a half-hearted hybrid off the tee which the wind pushes right into a pot bunker on the right. I get out without too much bother but fail to get up and down. Bogey. Same problem on par 3 11th. The forward tees and the wind and proximity to the green leave me totally flummoxed as to club choice. Another bogey. Cutting right to the chase, I bogey my first four holes. Not quite the start I had in mind.

Sure there were bright spots. The eagle on 15 was the highlight of the day. Nearly driving the green on the short par 4 eighth was another. But I missed a fistful of birdie putts elsewhere on the course and finished beyond my first trophy as a senior golfer. Bottom line is that no matter how long you are off the tee or with your irons you still have to deal with the rest of the course and put the ball in the hole.

So it’s not going to be the cakewalk I thought it was. There’s still going to be a learning curve but one that should be shorter now that I recognize what needs to be done. Whatever else might happen, it’s going to be fun!