LET A WOMAN DO IT AMONG MEN…………….A HOLE-IN-ONE! Yes, you read it right. Lina Mayo on her return playing golf with the Sierra boys this summer shot a HOLE-IN-ONE in her very first game. It was a par 3 seventh hole at Royal Woodbine Golf Club last Sunday, June 21, 2026. Royal Woodbine honors Lina with a certificate to commemorate the achievement. SGC according to its president, Joey Cruz, will present Lina with an undisclosed gift for this rare feat. Congratulations.
Here are several takeaways from last Sunday’s round of golf.
POY – Player of the Year
Congratulations to Don Singh. Winning this major award is not ironclad by any means. For a good measure, it was too close to call until the final game. Top five players were chasing him but whatever your needs or aspirations, you’re bound to tiptoe seizing the rare opportunity. Don’t look now, watch what Don does not what Don says. He was as modest as he was good that day. Enough said, well done. Mind you this is a rare moment when Don received the huge POY trophy together with the prize money. Don being a nice charitable person as he demonstrated the first year he joined the club, donated back the money to SGC.
MIP – (Most Improved Player)
Charles Bowen. Remember the name. It was one of those Sundays where we talked about of dramatic turnarounds. Charles never led this award as he was trailing all along Erland Ibañez. He was wading into unchartered waters on Sunday but unfortunately for Erland and with Erland’s help, Charles eventually elevated his performance just enough to win this major award. It was compelling that someone must win or lose.
COMMENTARY:
As if SGC is not truly trying to recruit female golfers but came close in convincing a couple to join a year or so ago. Is it due to constrained stream of players? We guess so. It needs a lot of labour of love among members and real commitment to support the idea. I see no gender restriction if an individual has a passion for the game of golf at all. SGC praises the involvement of this couple, Laysan Ear and Raymond Kwong this year. Hopefully their membership atones to more women joining the club in the near future.
This year or a couple of years ago, new recruits are eminent in what SGC has become. I see new members are taking pleasure in their quest of competing with a mixed culture while exposing how a Filipino organization thrives welcoming them in a wholesome environment. SGC veteran members take a bow. You are the reason for this ideal ritual to make these new members feel at home.
Special commendations to these three members for the very special effort they put in without anyone urging them to help SGC coordinate an event running smoothly:
Jojo Dizon: For as long as I can remember ever since I joined SGC many moons ago, Jojo’s been doing the painstaking job of collecting funds from members to initiate a prize scheme for the expected winners. No matter what expletives he receives from them, Jojo has this calming ability to handle it respectively.
Para Tuy: A member’s big effort who took freely the liberty of creatively producing trophies to award the game winners together with the monetary prize. Those trophies may be small in size but much comparatively bigger in thoughts. I see Para’s face brightly lits up every time those trophies were being handled to the winners. He promises to create bigger and better trophies next year. Nice.
Leonardo Aniceto: Another member who I find as an admirable golfer. He seems not fazed about high or low scores; he merely plays the game with the audacity of welcoming pure enjoyment with the rest of the members. And yet, he exultantly finds time to utilize his super cell phone to assigned himself as the official photographer, assumably. It is nice to look back at those images Leo put online every time after a game or a gathering.
SGC: To those who help, they are greatly appreciated.
Just in case you want to know, Don Singh also shot the lowest net score of the day: 60
June 15, 2025
Fil-Am did you say? JJ Spaun that is. He is the 2025 US Open golf champion with a first prize tag of $4.3 million. A hard-fought major golf event held at Oakmont Country Club located in Pennsylvania, USA. How hard was it to play this golf course you asked? For the 156 players that competed, aside from the rain that came down in the final round, Spaun was the only player who shot under par at one under.
Bios please…………..
Spaun was born in Los Angeles, California, on August 21, 1990. His father, John Michael Spaun Sr., is an American of European descent, and his mother, Dollie, is of Filipino and Mexican descent. His mother’s paternal grandparents moved to California from Victoria, Tarlac in the Philippines and spoke Ilocano.
Congratulations.
Jun Paculaba a long-time senior member of SGC loved playing golf. Unfortunately, his battle with health issues caught up with him and now he’s gone before us.
Our Visayan friend made a mark wherever he played golf in his heyday even in the Philippines and Hawaii where he occasionally played golf of all places.
A silent and soft-spoken type of player who never made any fuss around anybody until he submitted his low round of golf score.
Jun is a huge loss to our golf community as well as with the Filipino organizations he actively participated in along with his numerous friends. He is survived by his caring wife Luz, a daughter Cheryvic and a grandson Caleb. On behalf of SGC members, we collectively share our sadness with Jun’s family and pray for his soul to join our Lord in His Kingdom.
The competition is intense, testing players’ ability and character to the limit. At times, it can be a formidable assessment, but those who do make the grade know that the chance of reputation and fortune awaits.
This is what Julio Rodriguez, (everyone who knows and calls him JR for short) has done for this SGC’s (SIERRA GOLF CLUB) 2024 golf summer event. While JR romps hugely to two major SGC titles – POY (PLAYER OF THE YEAR) & MIP (MOST IMPROVED PLAYER), it is a commemoration of golf skills and a token that this sport not only is satisfying to win but needs dedication and perseverance to oneself. Mind you, JR has still five-day a week of employment to tackle aside from playing golf. Congratulations.
Sierra Golf Club just learned the death of former SGC member, Tom Beltran. Tom passed away sometime in January of this year in Winnipeg. SGC would like to say goodbye to Tom, maybe a little late than never. Most members remembered Tom as the most avid golfer as he was always known of practicing almost every day. How about that for a guy who loved golf so much? We wish Tom playing golf at par in the Kingdom of our Creator.
On behalf of Sierra Golf Club members, we wish Manny Chea’s wife Elsa, an eternal peace in heaven.
SGC sent this flower arraignment (pictured) to Elsa’s funeral wake courtesy of Bingoy Peña.
Most of us are dreamy eyed when entering a golf season hoping to seize the rare opportunity that everyone else wants – winning an award. With the SGC golf season ending, Jess Velarde not only captured an award but getting it done on the biggest stage by winning both the POY (Player of the Year) and the MIP (Most Improved Player) major awards. The timing couldn’t have been better as Jess turned the corner for this year’s contest with his remarkable performance.
From L to R: Jimmy Manguerra, Sangva Sok, Joey Cruz
Other great performances were at stunning display by Grand Finals winners – Jimmy Manguerra and Sangva Sok. Playing Lakeridge Links and Kingsforest courses was unlikely a walk in the park without course management at all for these two players. SGC also appreciates a non-award category, and it is also quite an inspiring effort for the rest of the members with a perfect 24-game attendance by Joey Cruz.