Is golf a contact sport?

In this column a few weeks ago, I wrote about boxing promoter Bebot Elorde getting beaten up by four men in the comfort room of a restaurant owned by his brother Marty beside the Elorde Sports Complex in the family compound on Sucat. It was like Elorde was assaulted in his own backyard and I asked if anyone is safe anymore.

In Davao City last March 4, former Oriental superwelterweight boxing champion Arman Picar was killed when a bomb exploded in the waiting shed fronting the airport terminal building. Picar worked as a transportation dispatcher and conducted his business in the waiting shed. If you can’t be safe in our own home as in Elorde’s case or in your own workplace as in Picar’s case, where else can you find protection?

Yesterday, a friend of mine phoned to report an incident which he witnessed at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.

"I read your column about Elorde and wondered the same thing–is anyone safe anymore," said my friend. "And I told myself, at least in the golf course, you’re safe. But a few days ago, something happened that made me change my mind."

My friend said he couldn’t believe his eyes when a man swung a club and hit another golfer in the thigh then tried to run him down with a golf cart.

It wasn’t a spur of the moment thing, he continued.

"There were golfers teeing off," said my friend. "It was about 8 a.m. I heard the golfers shout ‘fore’ several times because there was a man near the green of the seventh hole. I think the man started behind the flight and moved ahead. Anyway, one golfer hit his tee shot after shouting ‘fore’ and it went in the direction of the man standing in the fairway about 100 yards from the green. The ball didn’t hit him but the man was obviously incensed."

My friend said he saw the golfer who hit the tee shot approach the man. Then the fireworks erupted. Here’s what my friend reported: "The man accused the golfer of trying to deliberately hit him. My friend heard the golfer apologize, saying he wasn’t good enough to hit the ball where he wanted it to go. The man challenged the golfer to a fistfight but the golfer wouldn’t oblige. The man got into his cart and circled the golfer. It looked like he tried to run him down. Then the man stopped the cart near the golfer’s ball, got a club and struck the ball into the water. He turned to the golfer and whacked him in the thigh. The golfer had a driver in his hand but didn’t swing back."

Maybe, the man woke up on the wrong side of the bed and took it out on the golfer, noted my friend. Whatever, my friend added that he had no right to physically strike the golfer. And the conduct he displayed on the course was unbecoming of a gentleman and a member of the prestigious club.

My friend didn’t know who the man was and didn’t care. My friend isn’t the type to look for trouble. He just talks about it. He later found out the victim was a certain Greg Yu who, he was told, was a past president of the Tagaytay Highlands International Golf Club and Tagaytay Midlands Golf Club.

Some caddies at Wack Wack told my friend that the golfer was with three others in a flight that teed off a few minutes after 6 a.m. The man who swung the club played with two caddies about three flights back. The man somehow got ahead on the seventh tee and apparently, didn’t excuse himself to advance as is the practice.

My friend said the Wack Wack caddies mentioned the golfer isn’t a hothead and is well-liked. "Cool daw siya," he continued. "Hindi mainitin ang ulo. Kanya, hindi nga nakipag-away even if sinaktan na siya sa hita."

My friend was told that the golfer later reported the incident to the Mandaluyong police and to Luis Tan, chairman of the Wack Wack membership committee, and will file a criminal case against his assailant.

"What is the world coming to?" my friend asked. "There is war in Iraq. There is tension between India and Pakistan, North and South Korea, and Palestine and Israel. There are terrorists everywhere. Why can’t people learn to live in peace? If only our leaders read the Bible and listen to the Word of God, they would be more understanding and more respectful of each other. It’s love that makes the world go ‘round. War makes the world go down."

My friend said he used to think the golf course was a safe haven. "I thought golf was not a contact sport and on the course, you found gentlemen who were honorable," he sighed. "That incident a few days ago traumatized me. Now, I know what you mean when you asked if anyone is safe anymore."

I hope the victim and his assailant patch things up. Life is too short for anyone to bear grudges against another. It’s not worth the aggravation. We’re only human. We make mistakes. We sometimes flare up. But we must know when to admit our shortcomings and ask for forgiveness from those whom we’ve hurt. Otherwise, we’d be a planet of mindless and heartless beings.