Walking 18 holes with a doctor

DAILY TRIBUNE joined a tournament for the first time last week, sending a team to the 29th Philippine Corporate Cup at John Hay Golf Club in Baguio City.

For me, it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar territory. I had played in the Fil-Am Invitational last December, also in Baguio, so I already had an idea of the kind of atmosphere these big team tournaments bring — a mix of friendly competition, camaraderie, and long days on the golf course. Still, representing the newspaper this time felt different. There’s a certain pride in carrying the name of your organization onto the fairways.

For my teammates — Julius Manicad, Rowel Barba and Dr. Brian Cabral — it was their first taste of a team golf event. Like most first-timers, they came in a bit curious and probably a little unsure about what to expect. But it didn’t take long for them to settle in. The Corporate Cup has a way of making everyone feel welcome, whether you’re a seasoned tournament player or someone just experiencing it for the first time.

One thing that made the experience even more enjoyable was the format. Unlike the Fil-Am, where you often go out on your own even if you’re part of a team, the 36-hole Molave division allowed two teammates to play together in the same flight. That meant you had a familiar face beside you throughout the round.

And that made a big difference. When you hit a bad shot, there’s someone there to laugh it off with you. When you manage to pull off a good one, there’s someone who shares the moment. In a game that can often feel solitary, that small detail turns the round into something more relaxed and memorable.

I had the pleasure of playing three rounds — including a practice round — with Dr. Brian, who, at six-foot-four, could easily pass for a former basketball player. As it turns out, he actually did play basketball before the golf bug bit him during the pandemic.

But Brian is no ordinary doctor. He is a nephrologist and transplant specialist, a hospital executive, and also writes the column “The Doctor Diaries” for the DAILY TRIBUNE.

In the short time I spent on the course with the good doctor, our conversations went far beyond golf. I found myself learning a great deal about his profession — how doctors think, how they handle pressure, and how they make critical decisions, often in situations where the stakes are far higher than anything we face on the fairway.

His long years of medical training show in the course. He brings a calm, measured demeanor: no club throwing, no drama, just quiet resets after mistakes. Even if he had hit out of bounds twice in a row, you won’t see Brian ranting or cursing like most of us. That composure shows you how to “shrink the moment”: breathe, go back to your routine, and make the next swing with a clear head rather than chasing the last error.

It also helps that he carries a 6.8 handicap index, which Brian maintains by playing five times a week — yes, you read that right. He plays from Tuesday to Saturday at Alabang Country Club, hitting his tee shot at 5 a.m. when most of us are still fast asleep. He is through by 9 a.m., spending the rest of the day in his clinic.

Because of his tight schedule, he rarely plays outside his home course.

Brian would love to leave his mobile phone in the locker room while playing, but he can’t. Duty comes first.

During our final round, he had to take several calls — some of them urgent — while we took our turn hitting our tee shots. The interruptions clearly divided his attention and led to missteps, but he took each call with a smile, slipped the phone back into his pocket, and walked calmly to the next hole, ready to swing again.

Maybe that’s the real lesson from walking 18 holes with him: some people never really step away from caring for others — they just carry that weight a little more lightly down the fairway.