|
 Jayvie
Agojo’s dreams are slowly taking shape. She is
currently No. 48 in Division I ranking of the US
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and made
the grade as an All-American Honorable Mention by
Golfweek.
But go
ask Agojo, a junior at the
Pepperdine
University, and she’ll say that she has a long way to go
before she can break into the Ladies Professional Golf
Association (LPGA) and compete with the world’s best.
After
two years, she already played against some of the best
college players around especially those from USC and
UCLA. She won a tournament in 2005 and went on to
receive the Freshman of the Year award.
She’s
quite satisfied with her achievements and ranking
despite playing in only eight tournaments. And she knows
that she is capable of doing better.
“At one
point, I was already at No. 37. Where I am right now is
not bad because it is so hard to balance studies and
golf,” the 19-year-old Agojo told Greenside Chip in an
online chat yesterday.
On the
Sea Games
AGOJO is
thankful the National Golf Association of the
Philippines (NGAP) has taken notice of her again.
NGAP
executive director Jake Ayson said that he will show the
NGAP board a copy of a BusinessMirror article that
featured her so they could decide whether to include
Agojo in the 24th Southeast Asian Games team in
December.
“Salamat
sa inyo, kuya. Naaalala niyo pa pala ako kahit matagal
na akong wala sa Pilipinas. This will inspire me to
finish my studies and play better golf,” Agojo said.
“Thank you talaga!” she reiterated.
As to
the NGAP, she said: “I am deeply honored to be
considered in the women’s golf team. Basta
anything for the country, game ako basta puwede.
If given the chance, I’ll fix my schedules and formally
ask my school to allow me to play. I love to represent
the Philippines in international tournaments.
When
asked on her possible team-up with junior star,
13-year-old Dottie Ardina, the first Filipina to compete
in the Ladies European Tour, she said: “I don’t remember
playing with her in the past. All I know is that she’s
good.”
On
changing to a new set
AGOJO’S
driving distance was getting shorter and was losing
weight with the Callaway Forged set. To correct the
flaw, she reverted to the x18 Pro Series which is four
degrees flatter than the old set as advised to her by
her coach Laurie Gibbs and assistant coach Kelly
Kamimura.
Slowly,
she’s getting back into the groove, according to coach
Gibbs. “Medyo okay na ang palo ko. Pero ang
weight ko, it went down from 123 to 108 pounds,” confessed the OB Montessori high-school graduate.
On
joining the LPGA
“OF
course, pipilitin ko na makapasa sa Qualifying
School, or Q-School, of the LPGA. Kahit hirap ako sa
Pepperdine, kakayanin ko lahat,” explained
Agojo, who lists Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa and
Tiger Woods as her idols.
“With my
parents Jun and Vicky’s support and backing of media
guys like you, I know I’ll make it someday,” she said.
Wack Wack awaits confirmation from Asian
tour
By Adrian Flores
Correspondent
THE Wack
Wack Golf and Country Club could not start work on its
fabled East course as it awaits a confirmation from
Asian Tour officials that it will again be the venue of
the Philippine Open in 2008.
According to Wack Wack general manager Felipe Soyangco,
the rehabilitation program of the East course has been
stalled at the moment as the club awaits the formal
intent from the Asian Tour for another possible
partnership.
Soyangco
explained that the much-needed renovation of the
irrigation and drainage systems of the weather-beaten
East course could take some time and may not be
available if Asian Tour chooses Wack Wack and the RP
Open as its kick-off leg next season.
“Wack
Wack intends to keep its commitment with the Asian
Tour. We’ll give a reasonable amount of time to the
group before the board convenes and decides on the
pending construction,” Soyangco told BusinessMirror.
“The
materials are already available. If the board says yes,
the rehab plan on the East proceeds,” Soyangco said.
Soyangco
said they were regularly communicating with Asian Tour
officials about two to three months ago. But lately, he
said the Asian Tour has been on silent mode and has not
responded to Wack Wack’s recent correspondence.
“I hope
that the Asian Tour submits a definite plan to us so we
could also prepare the facilities of the club and
course,” said Soyangco.
Soyangco
said that unless Asian Tour officials reply earnestly,
club members would be hesitant in making Wack Wack the
venue of the Open next year.
Soyangco
said sponsors should also be tops on the list of
priorities of the Asian Tour.
“We do
not want to experience what happened in February when we
had to literally scamper for sponsorships in a very
limited time,” Soyangco stressed.
“It was
a good thing former Wack Wack president Ben Abalos and
Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza were there to
help us,” he added.
Boy Blue
Ocampo, one of a few Filipinos in the tournament
committee of the Asian Tour, said he is not privy to the
plans of the Asian Tour. “We haven’t discussed it
lengthily. Nothing is definite at the moment,” Ocampo
said.
NGAP,
likewise, did not give any comment because “it is up for
the Asian Tour and Wack Wack to resolve the matter.”
The RP
Open faced a similar situation in 2004. The NGAP was in
dilemma as to where to hold the oldest and prestigious
professional event in the country. In the end, there
were no takers that led to the cancellation that year.
Mt. Malarayat
hosted the 89th edition in 2005 before the RP Open made
a triumphant return to Wack Wack in 2006.
The RP
Open in ’08 is the third and last tournament under the
agreement between Asian Tour and National Golf
Association of the Philippines (NGAP) which leased the
tournament franchise for three years. |
