Chuckie Hong

If there is one professional golfer, who I would be very happy to see play in a tournament, it is no other than Charles ‘Chuckie’ Hong.

Chuckie was still a kid of maybe 8 years old when I started writing about his exploits. Since he spent his high school years in Cebu, many times I have also reported about his triumphs in various events here and in other parts of the country.

He went to De la Salle University in Manila for his college studies, but I still got updates about what he had been doing as it is something I would always ask his parents – George and Jojo – about the youngest of their brood that also includes William and Mary Kim.

Yesterday, George, Jojo and Kim followed Chuckie during the first round of the Aboitiz Invitational 2012 at the Cebu Country Club. Only William was missing as he is still in Japan for further studies.

Chuckie was one of two guys who were smiling when they got back to the clubhouse yesterday, said top pro Frankie Miñoza. The other one, who Frankie noticed was smiling after his round was early leader Antonio Lascuña.

I only caught up with Chuckie when he got to the 18th green and no doubt, George and Jojo looked every inch very proud parents.

It would not be hard to spot Chuckie, in the Aboitiz Invitational as he would be one of those with many people in the gallery.

By the way, he is currently number 13 in the order of merit of the Philippine Golf Tour.

Good luck, Chuckie!

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Was Mark Anthony Barriga robbed of a victory in the boxing event of the Olympics?

I believe he wasn’t. He just failed to duplicate his superb performance in the second round when his Kazakh opponent suddenly became aggressive in the third and final round.

I would, however, also say that sticking to his game plan would have been difficult for the diminutive Filpino pugilist, who was forced to engage in a wrestling match with his foe.

The aggressiveness of the Kazakh cost Barriga two points. It also cost the Kazakh one point and if there were no deductions, the bout would have ended tied in terms of points and they would have resorted to a count back to declare a winner.

I believe the Kazakh did so much better in the third round, which would have given him the edge. I am not saying he was the better fighter and his technique obviously was lacking finesse.

The sad thing is that it worked for his cause and broke not only the heart of the Filipino fighter, but also that of the people of our nation.

Although we still have three more athletes still standing, the Olympic gold will remain a dream, but that doesn’t mean we are giving up.

Let’s start preparing for the next Olympics now.

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MILESTONES: Congratulations to Empire Golf and Sports shop, which had its formal inauguration last night. The shop is located on the second level of the Ayala Center Cebu Active Zone.

Happy birthday greetings go to my good friend Brucedy Chan, who turns a year older today.

Advance greetings to those celebrating tomorrow like Ramon ‘Boboy’ Durano IV, Dr. Consuelo ‘Connie’ Camaya-Villafania, Miriam Uy, Leoniflor ‘Neneng’ Villa-Tan, and Hidetomo Igarashi.

More power to all of you!