Unsung heroes of the Fil-Am golf tournament

BAGUIO CITY—They are the “Big” John McCarthys of golf. But their sport being the gentlemen’s game, they have never met men with mixed martial arts tendencies on the fairways and greens.

Like McCarthy—the original MMA referee and still one of the best in the business—they too are referees or rulesmen of the royal and ancient game.

Joaquin “Jake” Ayson and Al Mendoza belong to a handful of rulesmen in local golf. Close friends since the mid 1970s, they have witnessed local golf’s storied past and looked forward to becoming part of its exciting future.

Ayson retired six years ago as chief executive officer of the country’s national sports association for golf. Mendoza remains a prolific and influential sports and motoring columnist for several newspapers.

The duo is here together for the 12th year in a row as arbiters for the Fil-Am golf Invitational tournament. Overall, they have been part of the Fil-Am’s rules committee for over two decades.

Now on its 69th year, the Fil-Am is the world’s biggest and longest-running amateur golf tournament. Its championship flights are in progress at adjoining courses of Baguio Country Club and Camp John Hay Golf Club.

This year’s edition has attracted the largest field to date—1,355 local and overseas golfers—keeping Mendoza and Ayson busy until the last golfer comes back to the clubhouse.

“Jake and Al are unsung heroes of the Fil-Am,” said BGC general manager and overall tournament committee co-chair Anthony de Leon. “They have enforced the rules of golf and have kept the integrity of the game intact.”

No sport comes close to golf when it comes to the number of rules that govern play. There are rules that are not so simple. A number of these rules are downright confusing.

Ayson and Mendoza are in the golf course or at the tournament secretariat to interpret the rules and resolve conflicts among players as diplomatically as possible.

“But some golfers think they know it all when it comes to situations on the course,” says Mendoza. “When they do that, we throw the book at them, gently.”

By book, he means the Official Rules of Golf the United States Golf Association revises every year in conjunction with the Royal and Ancient Club of St Andrews in the United Kingdom.