The View, the friends, and the game we enjoy

Thanks to the many reasons that you can come up to play again, golf continues to flourish in many places all over the world.

For Alta Vista Golf and Country Club, which is now holding the 12th edition of the annual View Invitational, the great view of many areas around Cebu and the neighboring islands is one of the best reasons to come back despite losing so many balls in one round of play.

This is the reason for the name of the tournament, which at first was criticized by many as View Tee sounds like beauty, but eventually prevailed when the members voted overwhelmingly to keep it that way.

It was a clean election, nobody complained about losing unlike those you see hogging television the past several days.

Aside from seeing a great view, there is of course the good company of friends and probably the occasional birdie or par depending on your skill level or maybe a drive that you can talk about for weeks, but let’s not talk about your second shot, which you most likely have flubbed.

The main reason why I play is the fact that I have to write the story about the tournament. That was when I started.

Now, it is the company of friends and overcoming the challenges of the game and maybe the rare birdie and the occasional par.

I had one of my best nine holes at the start of the round last Thursday, unfortunately I did not have one of my better nine holes in the back nine hehehe…

With two more days to go in the tournament and one more round to play for almost all of the teams, this year’s View Invitational will soon become part of AVGCC’s history and the subject of many conversations for the guests return to their home courses and when the members gather at the clubhouse.

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Tournaments like The View Invitational are examples sports tourism activities.

For those who don’t know, we have many players from out-of-town, who are now here for the tournament including a biog contingent from Malaysia.

There are also many visitors from Manila, other parts of Luzon and Mindanao, who are here not only to enjoy the game, but also help spur the economy.

I have been to many tournaments in other parts of the country and have personally seen and experienced what it is to be a sports tourist and how such activities impact the economy of a certain area.

The local authorities need not really work too hard to assist those who organize sports tourism events, but can help by keeping our place safe and ensuring that those from the transport sector would not abuse the visitors.

We can make Cebu a better place if we all care.

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MILESTONES: Happy birthday greetings to Lt. Col. Rummuell Perez of the Philippine Air Force and PMA Sambisig class of 1991 who turns a year older today.

Advance birthday greetings to Cahms Allego of The Freeman’s Art department, Lt. Col. Dennis ‘Star’ Estrella another Sambisig, and Richard Alforque, who are all celebrating tomorrow.

More power to all of you! – THE FREEMAN