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SOME
10,000 junior golfers aged 10 to 18 from 25 countries
join qualifying tournaments every year for the Optimist
International Junior Golf Championships.
For this
year, the top 750 junior golfers from the various
qualifying tournaments will converge at the Professional
Golfers’ Association (PGA) National Resort and Spa in
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, for the worlds slated from
July 23 to August 3.
The
Optimist has been a springboard to many PGA and Ladies
Professional Golf Association players, most notable of
whom are Tiger Woods, John Daly, Ernie Els, Justin
Leonard, Davis Love III, Billy Mayfair, Phil Mickelson,
Corey Pavin, Nick Price, David Toms, Craig Stadler,
Nancy Lopez and Lorena Ochoa.
This
year, three from the International Containers and
Terminal Services Inc. golf program—Jobim Carlos, Sarah
Jane Ababa, multititled Chihiro Ikeda and Lou Isabelle
Manalo—made it through the qualifiers and will
participate in the Optimist.
Jobim, a
soft-spoken 15 year old, is no stranger to international
competitions but is a first-timer at Optimist. He is
hoping to become the first Filipino winner in the boys’
14 to 15 category.
If
Ababa’s surname rings a bell, it is because she is a
member of the golfing clan which included his titos
Cesar and Gil, two former champions in the local amateur
and professional scene in the 1970s and 1980s. She is
the lone entry in the girls’ 14 to 15 category.
“It’s my
first big event abroad and I want to make an impression
and bring glory to our country,” Ababa told Greenside
Chip. “And also, I want to show my coaches that I could
play with some of the best amateurs in the world.”
In the
girls 16 to 18, Filipina-Japanese Ikeda and Manalo are
aiming to improve on the ninth-place performance last
year by Bambee de la Paz, who has already graduated from
junior golf.
Ikeda,
the 17-year-old reigning RP Ladies Open, has the best
chance. Besides the Open, she also pocketed the DHL
WWWExpress and two Asian titles in the last six months.
However,
she admitted that the PGA National, site of the 1987 PGA
Championship and 1983 Ryder Cup, is no easy course. It
was once called the real killer by Lee Trevino because
of its diverse array of greens layout with each
representing its own exquisite challenge.
“In the
Optimist, you throw out all the records and titles. It’s
a totally different feeling in Palm Beach,” said Ikeda.
Adrian Flores
Wilson
Staff Ci7 series earns 5-star rating
Wilson
Golf’s newest iron series, the Wilson Staff Ci7, has the
highest ratings for “Best for Look” and “Best for Feel”
and achieved a five-star rating to top the
game-improvement category for irons in Club Test 2008 of
the internationally-acclaimed Golf Magazine.
According to general manager Jun Jun Plana of WS Sports,
exclusive Philippine distributor of Wilson, the Ci7
irons were described by Golf Magazine in its May issue
as a terrific combo of tour-style feel with
game-improvement forgiveness that lets you use whatever
skill you have and cuts through rough like butter.
“The
Wilson Staff Ci7 further establishes Wilson Golf’s
stronghold in the iron category,” Plana said.
The Ci7
has been recreated with a TOUR-inspired, mid-size shape
designed to assist a broad range of players. Its
cavity-back notch design with its thin face produces
more power and the undercut cavity provides greater head
stability.
Club
head weighting and shaft technologies translate to
maximum playability. The Ci7 steel shaft option is a
TOUR-proven True Temper Tx 105 lightweight shaft that
generates increased swing speed for longer shots; and
the Ci7 graphite option showcases the lightweight UST
Proforce V2 shaft technology for stability. |
