Solaire Open: 12 on a par-5 derails Angelo Que

CANLUBANG, Laguna—Yes, it happens to the best of them, too.

A 12—or any double-digit score on a hole—is a number many amateurs sign for and oftentimes laugh about at the end of the round.

It comes with the territory. And that’s why, sometimes, even a double bogey for a pro is considered an unforgiveable mistake.

But these pros are human beings as well, and they concede that the game of golf is so unpredictable. You can ask Angelo Que, one of the country’s top parbusters. He didn’t have an answer to his mishap on Hole No. 2 Sunday that cost him the Solaire Open title.

“I don’t know what happened. I’ve been playing that hole that way every time,” Que said after hitting three drives out-of-bounds to the left and then three-putting No. 2 for the atrocious 12 that allowed everyone back in the mix.

“That’s golf, partner,” added Que, who used 3-wood for the first two drives and driver for the third. “There wasn’t any pressure on me whatsoever. I just tried to hit normal shots that turned out to be bad shots.”

After closing out with a career-worst 11-over-par 82, he said the experience was something he could learn from. It will be back to the drawing board, he said, for him and his coach, Bong Lopez, as they prepare for a busy year ahead.

Que, who played so bad that he four-putted the 17th green, faced local reporters still wearing a smile and talking with the same attitude that he had when he shot a 65 in the second round.

And because that disaster happened early, Que had a lot of time to shake it off. He and Lopez were actually laughing it off at the clubhouse.

The jovial Lopez summed it up for everyone: “Hindi lang natapon ang sabaw, pati waiter nadapa din (Not only was the soup spilled, the waiter also took a spill).”

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