Golf tournaments sponsored by corporate giants are a dime a dozen. Their purpose is hardly different — to promote sports in a clash of skills but always laced with marketing and public relations to stimulate goodwill.

There is the quotidian ritual of a ceremonial tee-off by biggie sponsors and prominent celebrities, social nights, awarding of trophies, and raffles of giveaways. The annual PAL Interclub tournament has all these and much more.

What sets the PAL Interclub apart from other national amateur tournaments?

During our younger days, we were a regular participant and had a front-seat view of how it evolved into what indefatigable and amiable Ms. Cielo Villaluna, PAL’s spokesperson cum public relations lady for years, touts as the oldest and most awaited amateur golf tournament in the country. Its multi-segments and the deportment of the organizers are what’s lacking in other similar events.

The PAL Interclub is a rendezvous of athletes to test their skills, categorized into the Regular Men and Seniors Teams. They are, in turn, categorized into divisions — Championship, Founders, Aviator, Sportswriter, and Friendship, depending on the team’s ability level as determined by the members’ handicaps. Each team fields four players in each category, but only the three best scores are counted to compute the winners. (This amended the traditional “5 to play, 4 to count” practice to accommodate the throng of applicants.)

In addition, PAL Interclub offers a package that includes segments for special classes of golfers, viz., a two-day free pre-tournament practice round for participants, a tournament for the captains of the participating teams, and another exclusively for media, which is in turn divided into print and broadcast. The latter was held on 26-27 February, and I was privileged to participate, representing the DAILY TRIBUNE.

I had the pleasure of meeting friends of long ago at the event. While finding my way to the Media Center at Pueblo de Oro Golf Club in Cagayan de Oro, one of the two tournament venues (the other being the Del Monte Golf Club in nearby Bukidnon), I bumped into an old friend, Mr. Jake Ayson, a fellow octogenarian, who is the oldest living member of the organizing team of the tournament and overall coordinator. I always referred to him as “Mr. PAL Interclub.”

He is the “go-to guy” for participants who have an issue about the event, be it a question of rules of golf, scoring, arrangement of flights, and the like. He has been at the job for decades and knows who the regular participants are, recalling the names of prominent Muslim golfers like the late Governor/Congressman Mohammad Ali Dimaporo.

The tournament for media was studded with celebrity media personalities like Arnold “Igan” Clavio, Danny Buenafe, Jun Engracia, Al Mendoza, Ding Marcelo (champion, print media), and many others. At Del Monte, I was paired with Alex Santos (champion for broadcast media), Anthony Suntay, and Rey Bancod. On the second day, the media men moved to Pueblo de Oro, where I was privileged to play with PAL Director David Ong and his guests, BIR Director Emir Abotazil and Benson Ng.

Granting that other corporate golf tournaments offer a similar package, what could hardly be emulated is the warmth and sociability of the men and women managing the PAL tourney. If one approaches the event organizer’s desk for any concern, one is always greeted with warm attention. A sense of camaraderie is bred between participants and sponsors.

Other corporate giants may sponsor a similar event, but none can come close to how the PAL Interclub is managed. It is efficiently conducted and is, by any measure, consistently successful. As we lawyers are wont to say: “I offer the success of the 75th Diamond edition of the PAL Interclub tournament as exhibit ‘A’ to support my ponencia.”

See you par busters next year in Bacolod City, where the next PAL Interclub is scheduled.

amb_mac_lanto@yahoo.com