One of the members of the T.G.I.S. Apo Golf is former basketball star Vince Hizon.
Hizon, whose family roots go back to some of Davao’s oldest families, played for the popular Ginebra team in the PBA and for the Iloilo MegaVoltz in the defunct MBA.
To many Dabawenyos, Vince is best remembered for his basketball stint, notably after being named to the PBA Mythical First Team in 1997.
Because of his three-point shooting and good looks, he emerged as one of the most popular players, not only in Davao, but in the rest of the country, thanks also to two songs about Ginebra which eventually became theme songs for millions of fans. Bayang Barrios, a native of Bunawan, Agusan del Sur, sang the songs composed by Gary Granada.
After playing in the country, he suited up for the Pennsylvania Valleydawgs in the U.S. Basketball League in 2004 and retired two years later. For the record, he is the first Dabawenyo and Filipino to play in a professional league in the States.
Vince is now involved with Par Excellence Consultancy Firm, a consultancy firm that serves local government units needing assistance in developing and processing loans from various banks to finance their different projects.
He is also Omnium Philippines Corporation’s vice-president for marketing and business development. Omnium is the exclusive distributor of Paris-made waste management products like garbage bins, compactor trucks, river and bay cleaning boats.
Vince is also best remembered for proposing, on his knees, to sportswriter and courtside broadcaster Patricia Bermudez during a halftime game in the PBA in 2003. The first time it happened in the history of the PBA. The couple have two sons.
Like any many other businessmen, Vince got hooked to golf and if time permits, he visits the Hizon family in Davao and gets in touch with fellow T.G.I.S. Golf members. [MPB with WEB reports]
