Golf another luxury most Filipinos cannot afford or ???

[Mr. Bobo]

6 minutes ago, Gratefuled said:

Exactly. I've played golf barefooted and often in shorts. Played during the hot  Santa Ana winds, often in rain and fog, and once even when it started to hail. So, the heat never was a factor in So Calif.where temps exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit..

Before I moved to the Philippines my wife and I lived in Vegas. I hit the links in Vegas a few times in the summer. It was the same temps as Abu Dhabi (110F) but it didn't seem as hot. Maybe because the courses in Vegas had grass rather than sand like in Abu Dhabi and psychologically it made it seem cooler. I have lived in Southern Cal, San Diego to be exact. San Diego, now that is a golfer's paradise.... tons of affordable courses and temps in the 70s...I regret that I picked up golf late in life (30s) and wish that I had started younger. I have shot in the low 80s a few times, but for the most part I was a bogie golfer no matter how much I practiced. I picked up too many bad habits when I started and could never overcome them. My advice to anyone that wants to pick up the game is take lessons early from a club professional.  

[Mr. Bobo]

44 minutes ago, Gratefuled said:

I agree but where are reasons #5  and #6????

We'll give Scott a "Mulligan" on that post! 

[Reboot]

1 hour ago, DavidK said:

Name any luxury a lot of Filipinos can afford.......... Many of the more affluent play golf and some of their children who've been playing since age 5 or so are very talented. Whether they can take that to the next level is another matter. I know there were Philippine representatives in the Olympics, I saw their picture in one of the local golf magazines. Here in Cebu there are 6+ courses and plenty of local players (strangely their membership fees are lower than us expats ) and a number of the locals are members of more than one club, just rubbing in how wealthy they are.

I hope they did better than the dive team.

[chris49]

It's not too hot. Tee off times start from 5 30.

At Vets Golf Course in QC you can get an unlimited golf pass after 3 PM, play as many holes as you like for 500. Caddy is 300.

The Senior Federation costs I think 2000 to join for a year. This gives you a Senior Card, 50% on most courses except the exclusive private courses. Age 55 or over. A membership costs 30, 000-50, 000 and gives you free golf but you pay the caddy. Membership at an exclusive club costs 800, 000 to 1 M but is lifetime. However there's a monthly stipend of 1-2k which goes with the membership. Lifetime memberships can be sold on.

A championship golf course such as Northwoods, Bulacan would play around 6800-7000 yards and it fully treed.

A recreational course is under 6000 yards and if recently developed has not so many trees. The one mentioned above Poro Point SF La Union has no trees at all.

There is an incredible predominance of cheating in Filipino golfing. By the player and the caddy, even at the higher level. One such scam is for the caddy to have 4-5 identical numbered balls in his pocket. So there is never a lost ball.

All of which precludes the development of talent. The entry fee for a pro level tournament is around 15, 000 for a 3 day event. When a kid puts that up and is beaten by a cheat, you can see why the game does not develop.

 

 

[scott h]

1 hour ago, chris49 said:

It's not too hot. Tee off times start from 5 30.

I was being a little factitious Chris about the heat, but if we think about what the OP was referring to, it would take a whole lot of dedication and determination of both a young golfer and the parents to brave the heat and humidity for the amount of time it take to develop the skills to reach the level the OP mentioned. 530 am is nice,,,but by 930 am its a beast  

[MacBubba]

Filipinos don't like to walk in the sun, so golf isn't terribly popular.  I may be wrong, but I believe that Manila's Hispanic rich favor polo.

[robert k]

Golf isn't really a team sport. Badminton, volleyball, basketball are team sports.

As for that free golf after 3.00 pm? I bet it's because the course is a ghost town that time of day. Hot.

[chris49]

14 hours ago, robert k said:

Golf isn't really a team sport. Badminton, volleyball, basketball are team sports.

As for that free golf after 3.00 pm? I bet it's because the course is a ghost town that time of day. Hot.

It's a promo and it caught on big time. Players walk around playing different holes and there's no order of play requirement.

It's not free. 500 pesos plus the caddy fee I said. I just remembered it's 500 inc the caddy fee.

Caddies btw are a luxury. We never use them in Australia and they induce laziness and bad habits. My girl Susie was constantly into me for loans and advance payment.

[Gratefuled]

5 hours ago, chris49 said:

There is an incredible predominance of cheating in Filipino golfing. By the player and the caddy, even at the higher level. One such scam is for the caddy to have 4-5 identical numbered balls in his pocket. So there is never a lost ball.

All of which precludes the development of talent. The entry fee for a pro level tournament is around 15, 000 for a 3 day event. When a kid puts that up and is beaten by a cheat, you can see why the game does not develop.

The Philippines once had started baseball with their youth. They won The Little League World Series one year. They didn't get to enjoy it because it was found out that there was cheating involved. They didn't get to keep their trophy and the coaches, managers, children and parents were so embarrassed that they never pursued baseball again. It's not about no place to play. The Domincan Republic, Cuba and Panama are smaller and produce major league baseball players. 

[Gratefuled]

1 hour ago, MacBubba said:

Filipinos don't like to walk in the sun, so golf isn't terribly popular.  I may be wrong, but I believe that Manila's Hispanic rich favor polo.

I thought it was Cock Fighting.