Valley Golf: King of east courses

Golfers in the eastern part of Metro Manila have been blessed with a number of great courses. The province of Rizal, with its rolling terrain, is home to four magnificent courses that, given the proximity to Metro Manila, have been popular with avid golfers for decades.

Forest Hills, Sun Valley, Eastridge and Valley Golf are all just outside the metropolis, and in the early morning hours, are half an hour or even less from urban centers. Among the four however, one stands proud as the undisputed “King” of the east — Valley Golf.

Valley Golf has been around since the 1961, founded by Don Celso Tuason, and in 1989, a second 18-hole course was added forming the South and North courses. The other courses in the area were all built in the 1990s, so Valley had a three-decade head start.

But apart from age, Valley (South Course) has kept its position at the top by remaining to be arguably the most challenging of all the courses in Rizal, despite its limited length. The tree-lined fairways, rolling terrain, and unique layout pose quite a test, even for seasoned amateurs and even professionals.

Last week, Tribune Golf had the privilege of getting to play Valley Golf’s fabled South Course with no less than Bob Guerrero, fellow sports and golf journalist, and Head of Valley’s Marketing Committee.

While I’ve been fortunate to get to play Valley a few times a year, being hosted by Bob and president Cons Kohchet-Chua was truly special. As expected, our flight of three, including Tribune Golf editor Marc Reyes, had immense fun at Valley, even though we all could’ve scored better.

My personal goal was to break 90 at least and I barely did so, shooting an 89. But the score hardly matters when in good company at a beautiful and historic course.

Even with course renovations underway (they’re 80 percent done), Valley Golf remains as majestic as ever. A classic course that has kept its teeth even if the course’s total yardage suggests otherwise. Valley isn’t long, and it doesn’t need to be. It is plenty difficult as it is.

After our round, we were joined for lunch by Valley Golf’s newly elected president, Constantine “Cons” Kohchet-Chua, and the youthful golf director Cyna Rodriguez. Cons has been a friend for a number of years and I am happy seeing him leading the club he calls his second home.

I am sure it is no walk in the park, as is leading any organization. After our sumptuous lunch at the Mandarin Sky outlet at the North Course Clubhouse, we proceeded to the main club to have a chat with Mr. President himself, along with Bob. Let me share excerpts of our informal interview with VGC’s main man.

Tribune Golf: Congratulations Mr. President! First off, how long have you been a member of Valley Golf?

President Cons: I joined the club in 2010, after mostly playing in Veterans and Aguinaldo. That time share prices were low, just around P 200,000. Last year, we hit a high of P 7.5 million.

TG: How many members does Valley have? And on any given day, how many members usually play?

PC: Valley has 1594 shares, and on a typical day, we get around 100 members playing. That goes up in the weekends.

TG: From the outside, Valley seems to have a young, fun image. We often see intra-club tournaments with members mostly in the 30-60 age range.

PC: Yes, of late our membership has gotten younger on average. We also get a lot families joining. We’ve got a robust junior membership and yearly summer clinics that are free to join adds to our active junior members.

TG: Valley seems to have made the biggest gain in share prices in the last decade or so, percentage-wise. What can you attribute this to?

PC: I think it’s a number of factors, with our location being very accessible to Metro Manila residents being at the top. Unlike other private clubs just outside the metro, we can get to and from VGC without paying toll fees, and with manageable traffic. I think the course improvements also played a big role in attracting new membership. Our barkadahan and other intra-club tournaments also help with showing an active membership. We also get a lot of celebrities and sports personalities joining and playing here, so that also adds to the club’s prestige. During the Don Celso Tuason 60th anniversary, people also got to see the plans, the planned improvements, so that brought shares up to the 6-7 million level.

TG: How long is your term as president and what programs and projects are you intending to initiate?

PC: We’ve got a lot actually. We’ll be starting with solar power and complete CCTV revamp. In a couple of months, we’ll begin renovation of our main clubhouse. There are also plans to update the North Clubhouse, construct a two-storey parking structure, a multi-sport building and more. As a non-profit club, we feel that whatever income the club has should go into continuous improvements of our facilities. The course has been undergoing renovations and is 80 percent done. We want to now update our facilities and get our club ready for the future.

TG: Heading any organization has its share of challenges. What would be your biggest challenge/s in being VGC president?

PC: We’re a very democratic club. There are no groups or individuals that can dominate the voting here. So that means that everybody has a say. That’s great, of course. Although being very democratic also means that as president, everyone is my boss. There will always be resistance. But as long as we’re transparent with everything and we keep the club’s good in mind in all our decisions, we hope even those critical would appreciate the improvements.

Valley Golf is a timeless gem that has always kept its stature as one of the best clubs in the country. Now in operation for over 60 years, Valley continues to lord it over eastern Metro Manila. And with the upcoming developments and a very active membership, it should only get better. We had an amazing day at Valley Golf and will always look forward to the next visit.