Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Patrick Gregorio yesterday tipped his hat off to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for welcoming and spearheading the inclusion of golf aside from gymnastics, weightlifting and boxing in their calendar.
“This is not an easy process and not an easy exercise. Pero pinatunayan ng NCAA na gusto nila tulungan ang Philippine sports,” said Gregorio in yesterday’s PSA Forum at the PSC media room.
“This is a new project of the PSC and the NCAA. So, let me thank the board of the NCAA. Bilib ako sa kanila by including gymastics, boxing, weightlifting and now golf. What the NCAA is doing is really commendable,” he said.
“Mahirap lang ‘yung simula but the PSC is very happy and we are supporting the efforts of the NCAA for sports to grow,” added the PSC chairman, who will also push for the same efforts among schools and universities nationwide, including the Visayas and Mindanao.
“Tuloy tuloy po ito. Talagang we will encourage them. Mga state schools and colleges – sports development.
The PSC will coordinate with them. ’Yan po ang ginagawa namin,” added Gregorio.
To kick it off, the NCAA Management Committee (Mancom) yesterday announced the staging of a special golf tournament featuring six to seven member schools on May 20 at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong City.
NCAA Mancom chairman Melchor Divina of Mapua said the oldest collegiate league in the country, now on Season 101, will work for the inclusion of golf as a regular sport in the next two or three years.
The NCAA, upon the initiative of Gregorio, has already included gymnastics, boxing and weightlifting as demo sports and possibly for regular inclusion in their calendar of events.
“Magandang simula ito na with collegiate golf, gaganda pa lalo ang golf in the country. We can encourage more. Everything that we do here is for the good of the sport,” said Divina.
Fielding teams in the one-day golf tournament are Arellano University, Letran, San Beda, College of St. Benilde, Emilio Aguinaldo College, Mapua and Lyceum. The University of Asia and the Pacific will compete as a guest team.
Mancom vice chairman Atty. Jonas Cabochan of San Beda thanked Gregorio for initiating the inclusion of the said sports where Filipino athletes have excelled in the international arena, winning three gold medals in gymnastics and weightlifting, a silver and three bronze medals in boxing in the last two Summer Olympics.
“This happened because of the initiative of the PSC chairman na ‘yung mga sports na may champions tayo sa international events isama natin sa NCAA,” said Cabochan.
Also gracing the weekly forum presented by San Miguel Corporation, PSC, Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, and ArenaPlus, the country’s 24/7 sports app, were Mancom members Frank Gusi of Perpetual Help and Dr. Eduardo Eduardo of Emilio Aguinaldo College, and Atty. Jord Valenton, the golf commissioner for the NCAA.
It will be a six-to-play, four-to-count event using the Stableford scoring system, with each school allowed to field a non-professional alumnus. Teams that cannot form a team are allowed to field entries for the individual play.
The Pilipinas College Golf Series, an independent group that organizes golf tournaments, will help the NCAA jumpstart its collegiate golf league.
