Local golfers seek Olympic berths

OLYMPIC popularity trends upward even more when golf becomes part of the SummerGames for the first time this year.

The inaugural golf tournament in Rio de Janeiro is part of a massive marketing effort to expand the Olympic brand,

The International Olympic Committee thought well and included golf in the Summer Olympiad, a clever move, indeed since the big time edition of the sport is a made-for-TV event that would enlarge the Games’ global audience and attract many of the richest corporate sponsors on the planet.

By July next year, the top 60 golfers in the Olympic rankings of the International Golf Federation, in both men’s and ladies’ play, will earn spots to Rio.

With the first ever Olympic golf championship, the IOCand Brazilian sports authorities won’t have to worry about hefty appearance fees to entice the world’s best golfers.

Masters and US Open champion Jordan Spieth, Filipino-Australian sensation Jason Day and happy-go-lucky Northern Ireland standout Rory McIlroy—the top three in the Olympic rankings—are expected to lead the star-studded men’s field in Brazil.

In the run up to the final IGF placings of a game where heft and height are not prerequisites to winning, three Filipino golfers—two men and a woman—are currently in the Olympic magic circle.

As of Dec. 22, reigning Philippine Open champ Luigi Tabuena stood at 48th place and Angelo Que 50th in the men’s rankings.

Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) veteran campaigner Jennifer Rosales slid from 57th to 58th spot among elite women golfers.

The latest Olympic rankings will be posted on the website (www.ngaponline.net) of the National Golf Association of the Philippines for interested golf enthusiasts, according to association president Carlos Coscolluela, Jr.

Tabuena, Que and Rosales are among PH wannabe Olympians are fighting tooth and nail to earn a ticket to Rio.

** A determined prospect, pole vaulter EJ Obiena is spending the holiday season in Poland while training with a Russian mentor.

While most potential Olympic qualifiers took a Yuletide break, Obiena, accompanied by his dad Emerson, is working hard under the watchful eyes of trainer Vitaly Petrov.

Philippine Amateur Track and Field Association president Philip Juico believes Obiena will make it to Rio since the 20-year old cleared 5.45 meters—close to the 5.7-mOlympic qualifying standard—while training at the Philsports Complex several weeks ago.

Juico has every reason to be confident. Sprinter and hurdler Eric Cray, the only Pinoy athlete qualified to compete in Rio so far, belongs to his national sports association.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), known to butt heads with the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (Abap) when it comes to the training of elite fighters, has ventured to predict that at least three of our boxers—two men and one woman—will make it to Brazil.

“Our gratitude goes to the POC for its trust in our fighters,” says Abap executive director Ed Picson who does not gaze at the crystal ball ever.

A total of 11 fighters, 8 males and three females, are still in the hunt for a passage to Rio next year.

These are light flyweights Roger Ladon and Mark Barriga, a London Olympian; flyweights Rey Saludar and Ian Clark Bautista; bantamweight Mario Fernandez; lightweights Charly Suarez and Junel Cantancio; welterweight Felix Marcial; flyweights Josie Gabuco and Irish Magno; and lightweight Nesty Petecio.