Moment of truth for Mimosa

Whether or not Mimosa will stay as the venue of the 88th DHL-Philippine Open will be known today when officials of both the organizing National Golf Association of the Philippines and host Clark Development Corp. appear at the PSA Forum at the Manila Pavilion Hotel.

CDC head Emmanuel Angeles is expected to finally state their position on the readiness of Mimosa’s composite Acacia and Mountainview courses in hosting an event of such magnitude after the NGAP found the Lakeview side, the complex’s third layout, unfit and in poor shape over the weekend.

That prompted the NGAP officials to tap the Mountainview side with Mimosa’s assurance to close it yesterday and start its renovation in time for the big event on Feb. 26-29.

"But when I called up Mimosa yesterday, they said that it was indeed closed in the morning but somebody ordered it to be opened in the afternoon. So what are we going to do with these people? Niloloko lang kami," said Benny Gopez, chair of the DHL-RP Open organizing committee.

NGAP chief Rod Feliciano, also the president of the sponsoring DHL Express, didn’t hide his disappointment with the way the Mimosa and CDC officials are handling the preparations — or if they are making any effort at all — to ensure the successful staging of the country’s premier golf championship.

"When we struck a deal to hold it at Mimosa, I was assured by Mr. Angeles that they are 100 percent behind the project," said NGAP president Rod Feliciano. "But now I get this (problem)."

He added that he doubts whether Angeles would ever show up in today’s session starting at 10:30 a.m.

"I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t show up. With all these things happening, I doubt it," said Feliciano.

Angeles was expected to arrive from the US yesterday and should’ve been briefed by his men on the latest developments — if there’s any — on the measures being taken to transform Mimosa into a championship layout.

Since the government, through CDC, took over the management of Mimosa from the Gonzalez’s group, maintenance of the golf courses turned from good to bad although the revenues doubled-up or even tripled-up with the influx of Korean guests the last few years.

It is for this very reason that the Mimosa management has been dilly-dallying on whether to close the Open sites or not since it would mean big losses on its potential income from the thousands of Korean golfers who play everyday.

In fact, two weeks after the NGAP conducted its first inspection of the venue, nothing has been done on its improvement, particularly the Lakeview layout which Gopez described as even inferior than Aguinaldo or Veterans.

In case Mimosa backs out or the NGAP pulls out, the RP Open remains assured of a grand staging with a number of world-class courses willing to step up and host the $150,000 event presented by San Miguel Corp.

There is Luisita in Tarlac, which the organizers found to be in tip-top shape following an inspection last weekend. The others are Riviera in Silang, Cavite, site of the 2000 RP Open, and the Tagaytay Midlands and Eagle Ridge, also in Cavite.