‘PACTO’ AVOIDS PANDEMIC BOGEY
Phl Open champ sells boiled eggs, ‘kwek kwek’ to make both ends meet Pactolerin, the fifth of 13 children, is used to poverty, having operated tractors to trim grasses during his teenage years at the Victorias Golf and Country Club in Negros Occidental
Thirty years ago, Robert Pactolerin sat on the clubhouse of the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club and watched his rivals wilt under pressure to hand him the Philippine Open on a silver platter.
Pactolerin finished the tournament at one-under par, a stroke ahead of American Lee Porter who went on to play in the US PGA Tour with three Top 10 finishes.
We lived off support from the Philippine Golf Tour and dole-outs from well-meaning friends.
But while Porter retired from professional golf at a relatively young age of 38, the 59-year-old Pactolerin is still very much around.
No longer dominant as before, Pactolerin still has the short game to keep up with guys old enough to be his sons in the tour.
He now hits his driver between 250 and 260 yards — short by today’s standards — but his short irons and wedges remain a big weapon.
Last March, Pactolerin regained his tour card after shooting 74-72-72 in the Q-School that was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic at the Splendido Taal Golf Club. He finished joint fourth.
He has not played a round of golf since even after courses have reopened.
Our earnings are not consistent. But at least, we have something to eat if we couldn’t sell.
“I’m a member of Villamor, but I still have to pay P2,100 just to play,” rued Pactolerin, a two-time Philippine Masters champion held at Villamor.
Pactolerin doesn’t hide the fact that he has fallen on hard times, compounded by the fact that he stayed home during more than three months of quarantine.
“We lived off support from the Philippine Golf Tour and dole-outs from well-meaning friends,” he said.
The PGT, which has yet to make any announcement on resumption of the tour, has shelled out P40,000 to each touring pro in two tranches, according to Pactolerin.
To make both ends meet while waiting for the tour to resume, Pactolerin said they started selling boiled eggs, kwek kwek, soups and dishes online with the help of his current live-in partner.
“Our earnings are not consistent. But at least, we have something to eat if we couldn’t sell,” he said.
During his reign in the nineties, Pactolerin managed to invest on a few properties, but had to sell one of their two houses following his split with his wife more than 20 years ago.
“We used the proceeds for the education of our two children,” he said.
His children, who live with their mother, are all grown up and have their own jobs.
Today, Pactolerin rents a modest twobedroom house in Tanza, Cavite and drives a 1994 model Toyota Corolla sedan.
On Saturday, he drove to Las Piñas driving range to meet his student who came all the way from Makati.
“I managed to hit some balls and earn on the side,” he said.
Pactolerin, the fifth of 13 children, is used to poverty, having operated tractors to trim grasses during his teenage years at the Victorias Golf and Country Club in Negros Occidental.
When no one was looking, he would park his tractor behind a tree and grab his wedge to hit some shots.
He became good at what he was doing that he caught the attention of the late Col. Nereo Andolong, then head of the National Golf Association.
Pactolerin said he was 16 or 17 when he was brought to Manila, the lone recruit from his place.
“There, we would hit 1,500 balls a day at Villamor and got coaching from professionals,” he recalled.
He became a fixture in amateur tournaments and represented the country many times alongside top amateurs Ramon Brobio, Carito Villaroman, Cesar Ababa and Danny Zarate, among others.
After helping Copacabana win its third straight Fil-Am golf team championship in 1987, Pactolerin turned pro.
During his first year, Pactolerin won the Lanang Open of the then Philip Morris Golf Tour. It was the first of many successes.
He stamped his class in the Philippine
Masters, winning it in 1991 and 1992 and placed second in the Thailand Open in 1993.
In 1994, Pactolerin won the PGA Open at the Canlubang Golf and Country Club, erasing the memories of his costly disqualification in the same course in 1990.
The week prior to the Philippine Open that he won, Pactolerin played well enough to earn a playoff with Frankie Minoza in Canlubang.
If I played well, I got to eat a bowl of ramen.
“I was thrilled to face Frankie in a playoff,” he recalled. Unfortunately, Pactolerin failed to check an incorrect score in one hole and was promptly disqualified.
“My caddie cried and we spent the night drinking until we collapsed,” he recalled.
Pactolerin would later recover the following week with a huge $24,000 paycheck and a brand new Toyota sedan which he sold to a Japanese benefactor for P490,000. Since ICTSI took over the tour’s sponsorship in 2009, Pactolerin played in every season except in 2012 when he packed his bags and flew to Japan to try his luck in the lucrative seniors’ circuit.
Pactolerin said he was lured by a Japanese businessman and his Filipina wife to bankroll his campaign in exchange for 50 percent of his winnings.
I’m a member of Villamor, but I still have to pay P2,100 just to play.
In 12 legs spread over six months, Pactolerin said he earned about P3.5 million, but claimed he came home with only P200,000. Until now, Pactolerin said he’s still trying to claim his remaining money. “I would settle even for P250,000,” he grudgingly said.
During the long break, Pactolerin said he mowed grasses in the backyard of his Japanese host and spent hours on the driving range.
“They would drop me off at 1 p.m. and pick me up at 7 p.m. The trouble was, they didn’t leave me any money to pay for my drinks,” he said.
In one of their trips, Pactolerin said they would bring adobo that they would eat for one week just to cut expenses. “If I played well, I got to eat a bowl of ramen,” he said.
Because of the bad experience, Pactolerin said he didn’t return to Japan even if he was still under contract for four years.
He settled for modest tour earnings and the extras he got for entertaining Japanese hosts or playing in private matches against rich amateurs. Unlike his lone Philippine Open victory in 1990, Pactolerin can’t afford to sit and wait for blessings to come. He soon found out that life is all about improvisation, just like what he does exceptionally well around the greens.