Lanang: A horse with no course

By NEILWIN JOSEPH L. BRAVO
CLARK, Pampanga — Here is one interesting trivia. Not all teams playing in the 69th Philippine Airlines Interclub golf tournament are clubs of existing courses.
Take the case of Lanang Golf and Country Club, one of the four Davao teams playing in the annual team golf competitions currently held at the Mimosa Golf and Country Club.
Lanang was closed down in 2007 when the sprawling property owned by the Dakudao family was sold in part to the Henry Sy-owned mall giant SM. The old Acacia-lined layout has since become the SM Lanang Premier, Davao City’s biggest mall.
However, Lanang remains among the teams entered in the Seniors and Regular Men’s events of the Interclub as it has continued to play in the prestigious event that attracted 187 participating teams this year.
“The lure of the Interclub extends even to golfers with clubs of non-existing courses,” explained Jonathan Gesmundo, editorial consultant at PAL Corporate Communications Office and head of the Interclub secretariat.
Another club representing a non-existing course is UP Tee Jots, according to rulesman and Interclub regular Jake Ayson.
While these teams are technically “homeless ghosts”, playing in the Interclub kind of keeps its presence in the golfing community. For its players, it’s simply a funny fact they can happily live with.
“We are the SM Lanang Premier golf club,” team member Danny Nagayo joked while loading his bags on the check in counter of PAL at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport.
Kidding aside, while Lanang has been erased in the golf landscape, memories of the fabled course remain with the consistent appearance of its team in the Interclub.
This year, the team is composed of team captain Paul Dakudao, Nagayo, Bobby Plana, Dennis Salvador, Dennis Te, Ned Sanchez, Ben Erickson, Danny Gotera, Ed Gumban and Bobbet Te.
The team plays in the Sportswriters Division and is aiming for a respectable finish.
“We want to make our presence felt by everyone here. We are targeting at least a Top 5 finish,” Nagayo told Edge Davao in an interview a day before the team plunges into action.
Lanang’s swingers will take their golf bags to the Mountain View Course of Mimosa Golf and Country Club today as the Men’s event tee off for the first time in Luzon since 1983 when it was held in Batulao.
Lanang will field Nagayo, Erickson, Plana, Salvador and Sanchez for Day One. Dakudao, Dennis and Bobbet Te and Gotera will make up its Day Two squad.
“We are having fun here and if we get a little lucky, we could just be the surprise bunch, who knows?” Nagayo said.
That’s quite a positive vibe for a team without a course to call home.