Ria Denise Quiazon: Lady charms the greens

SHE’S CERTAINLY NOT singing the blues, not when she was just named Athlete of the Year by the University of California-Berkeley, where she is a senior (majoring in American Studies) and mainstay of the school’s golf team. Ria Denise Quiazon won the honor by leading the team to the PAC-10 championship, and taking the Bears to No. 3 in the national rankings.

The award is given to scholars who have performed consistently well in both academics and athletics. With over 1,000 athletes in the 33,000-student campus, that’s quite an achievement.

"It’s a big honor for me and my family," Ria says with characteristic charm. "I feel this is a reward for working hard and making a difference."

And what a difference she‘s made. She led the Philippine team (with Heidi Chua and Carmellette Villaroman) to a bronze medal in women’s golf at the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea last September, her second trip to the Asiad (the first was to Bangkok in 1998 with Dorothy Delasin and Jennifer Rosales, both currently making waves on the US-LPGA circuit). With a semester of academic work to go but no longer eligible to play collegiate golf (NCAA rules grants eligibility only for four years), Ria will test the professional waters by joining the LPGA qualifying school in August.

Ria took a long and circuitous route to the greens and fairways that she now dominates. As a kid she wanted to be a gymnast "like Bea Lucero"–until she became too tall ("It’s not good if you’re 5’9"!" she laughs). Her family moved to the US when Ria was in first grade, and in school she played volleyball and basketball "for the longest time", threw discus ("the movement is similar to golf, I’m told") and also did the triple jump. "I have weird atheletic abilities," she admits with some embarrassment.

Basketball occupied her mind for a time, and for college she was actually scouting around for a school with the better team where she could get a scholarship. But her father Rene, a loan officer, pointed out the realities: "There’s no money in women’s basketball and you have no future in it." Mother Rissa had some sound advice: "If you want a college sports scholarship you have to focus on one sport in order to excel (in it)." That sport became golf, and good thing too.

Ria found golf–or golf found Ria–when she was 13. Her father, who had been playing golf "for over half his life", would take Ria and her brother to the driving range. "I didn’t have any clubs," she recalls, "but my brother did." Unfortunately, being two years younger, he was smaller, so all she could use was a three-iron, which was the longest club.

"But that was all wrong for a little kid," she recalls. "I don’t even carry a three-iron now!"

Despite that inauspicious start, Ria has happy memories of her beginnings in the sport. "My dad would pick us up after school and drop us off at a little par-3 course near our house (in Fremont, California). And he‘d come pick us up and bring us merienda and that was the best part!" she giggles.

Ria started the golf team in her high school, competing against the boys–and beating all of them. In their first year the team was third in their league; the next year they won the league.

In 1997, at the age of 16 and a sophomore in high school she played in the state championship, beating Dorothy Delasin (who is six months older) in the finals.

All these earned her a coveted invitation in 1998 (and again in 1999) to play in the Rolex tournament (held in Disneyworld), a championship of champions. She also played in the American Junior Golf Association circuit, where the country’s top college coaches scout for talent.

Being on a golf scholarship is not a stroll on the fairways. Three days a week she works out with the team (there are ten of them, five of whom travel the circuit) as early as 6:30 a.m.–before class, and then again after class. Other days she works out with a trainer. "Everyday but Sunday," she says of her gruelling practice schedule.

To keep her scholarship she has to mind her academics as well. "I had to submit a mid-term by email from Busan," she recalls, " and take finals from my hotel room during an NCAA championship."

Ria’s easy charm and ready smile belie the steel of her dedication and the competitive spirit that drives her game. But make no mistake: when this lady takes to the fairways, it’s not for a leisurely round–she plays to win.