NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2002 1 Annual Picnic 2 Membership Online 3 Spring Dance 4 NAMABC Golf Club ANNUAL NAMABC PICNIC BEAR CREEK, SURREY, BC More photos can now be seen by clicking Photos@Picnic2002 This year's picnic was held last July 13 at Bear Creak Park in Surrey. It has been another successful event for NAMABC. To reserve the place, Ben Dingcol was at Bear Creek Park the night before while Greg Narciso and Joven Hebron went to the site as early as 6:00am to secure the place. They were relieved by Mike Sevilla and Danny Federizo by 8:00 am and the members started to arrive by 11:00 am. The affair was well attended and members as well as guests enjoyed the nice weather with foods supplied by the organization. There were games for both young and old with prizes donated by NAMABC. Bong Banting took charge of the different games. The couples below were eating their hearts out and tried to outsmart each other to win in this ball dropping contest. Each ball has to be inserted inside the pant from one leg and then dropped through the other leg. Our annual picnic always proved to be popular and enabled members and their families to inter act and establish lasting friendships. Food catered by Charlie Lopez consisting of pansit guisado, barbeque chicken, beef caldereta, pandesal, and fresh fruits were free to members and their families. Guests were charged $5.00 per person to cover the cost of food. During the Picnic the organization was able to raise $150 as 6 members paid their renewal membership dues and 9 new members joined our association. Your membership fees will help the organization carry out some vital functions and will ensure continuous sponsorship of activities like this. The Executive committee would like to thank everybody who helped in making this affair a success. With your support we will continue to be a strong organization and will be able to share more quality time together.   NEW MEMBERS JOINED VIA WEBSITE There were several members who have joined our Association through our website. Our membership application on line has been a great success in introducing our Alumni Association to all Mapuans in the Lower Mainland as well as all of BC. We welcome our new members who enjoyed a great afternoon with fellow Mapuans. Nine (9) new members who have applied online attended our annual picnic last July 13, at Bear Creek Park in Surrey and have paid their membership dues. The new members are from left to right: Rolly Gatus, Pat Carlos, Marlo Lacuesta, Basil Bermejo, Joy Cabaccang, Mellisa Jimenez, Bernard Alcantara, Eliab Roman and Ray Navarro. At far right is NAMABC President, Eddie Alfonso, who introduced them to all the members and guests. Other new members who have joined our association via the website but not able to attend the picnic were Reynaldo Antonio Verzosa, Daniel Lao, Carlito Redoblado, Philip Yuson, Remigio C. Ilagan, Mario Roque Jr., Teresita Bucu-Alba, Lissa Tanuecoz-Bentley, and Joel Agustin. The Executive Committee members welcome all new NAMABC members and hope to meet them in an upcoming executive committee meeting.   SPRING DANCE 2002 More photos can now be seen by clicking Photos@Spring2002 Spring Dance of NAMABC was held at Eastburn Community Center in Burnaby last April 13, 2002. Members and guests alike enjoyed the evening of dancing past midnight and was attended by 209 guests which was near capacity of the rented hall . Our members are coming to age where dancing is becoming more popular both as a form of relaxation or simply a good form of exercise. The dinner which was prepared by Charles Caterer Express was served at 7:30 pm followed by dancing with music provided by Lani Cruz. Continuous dancing was only interrupted by awarding of door prizes donated by the Executive Officers and Area Coordinators. Some of the lucky winners were Precilla (wife of Eldy Degala), Antoinette (wife of Danny Federizo), Romy Pareja, Nora (wife of Ric Jose). The main prize for the raffle which was a DVD player was won by Vilma (wife of Julius Lardizabal). Special prize was awarded to Leah Santos (wife of Tony Santos) for selling the most number of tickets (64 tickets). As in previous activities we always get the support of our members in making our affair a successful undertaking. Members who were responsible for the set up of the hall were Ed Tapia, Alex Mendez and Bert Samson. Officers in charge of tickets at the gate were Julius Lardizabal and Angel Alcos with the help from Fe Alcos. The refreshment committee was headed by Tony Santos. Officers and members on the committee were: Rey Yapyuco, Rody Santos, Sam Quinones, Rolly Pareja, Pete Lopez and Romy Pareja. Collecting those extra revenues from 50/50 and raffle prize were: Cecile Alfonso, Echel Narciso, Nita Tapia, Marichu Torrijos and Cynthia Yapyuco. The emcee for the night was Amante Jotie. The executive committee wish to thank all our members who helped us in any way in making our Spring Dance a success. Thanks for all the Area Coordinator who see to it that members in their particular area were properly informed of the affair. We wish to thank the groups who in addition to our members always join us in our dance parties. Special thanks to Leah who for 2 consecutive occasions have invited more than 50 guests to join our affair. This time she and Tony Santos invited 64 guests to our Spring Dance. We also wish to thank Dexter Tarampi for inviting his friends as well as Gil and Susie Urmaneta for their continuous support. Last but not least were Rody Santos with Belen Valderama who also coordinated the sale of tickets to several members and guests. Thanks also to area coordinators who in addition to covering their respective areas made special effort to invite friends to our party. For the members who were not able to come we hope to see you in our future activities to have some fun with the rest of us. Newsletter brought to you by Greg Narciso & Eddie Alfonso, HTML by the WebMaster.   NAMABC GOLF CLUB OFFICERS FOR 2002 NAMABC Golf Club Officers for 2002 - L to R: Ruffy B. Magallanes-Assistant Commissioner, Digno Vibat-Secretary/Treasurer, Noel Cabalfin-Commissioner, Nelson Wong (replaced by Frank Zolina)-Handicap co-chairperson, Alex Guballa-Tournament co-chairperson, Rolly Pareja-Handicap co-chairperson and Sam Quinones-Tournament co-chairperson.   AGENDA It has been quite a wonderful journey from its humble creation in 1995 to its present status of NAMA Golf Club. Greg Narciso, Pete de la Cruz and their cohorts, enabling their skills only within the confines of the driving range, made the first tests of nerves. A year passed and a semi-formation of hackers entered the arena of Par-3's in the lower mainland. The first offical NAMA Golf Open Tournament was held on May 27, 1995 at Sunshine Woods in Delta, B.C. 1998 was the first year of organized golf for NAMA Alumni, where over seven flights of players became intact and duly elected executive members were in place. In 2002 the executive committee has established a set of goals to accomplish: bring stature of club to new level, introduce and sustain new methods of club operation, seek and establish ways for financial stability, schedule new venues for members, establish new groupings for fair play, establish new formats of play, maintain integrity in handicapping, introduction of new ideas for awards. We will post this first newsletter in the NAMABC website (www.namabc.org) and continue to develop it with comprehensive tournament updates. One of our prime drives is to increase membership from current of (42) to a potential of (60). Reconfirmation of regular members from previous years --- Outstanding, so far we only have four players who did not commit, mainly due to health reasons or conflict to work schedule. Introduction of new Schedule of Fees --- To sustain rising costs of doing things related to golf we have changed our fees, still relatively cheaper than most clubs, our Renewal Fee is $60.00, $75.00 for New Members, $20.00 for membership fee to RCGA, and $40.00 banquet charge for spouse or a companion. A renewing member must be a member of the club for minimum number of three (3) years. A member who has been absent for more than two (2) years fall under the category of new member. Prior to every end of each year, the executive committee lays its plan for next season's Tournament & Confirmation Schedule. In the upcoming games of Y2002 we exerted all efforts to secure new and exciting courses. While maintaining the usual friendly golf clubs and staff of Fort Langley Golf Club, Carnoustie, Redwoods and Belmont, we have added The Falls, The Golden Eagle Golf Courses of North & South and Surrey Golf Course. We strongly encourage members to participate in the two non-NAMA Golf Tournaments, which are to be held on June 1st at Swan-e-Set Golf Course for the Philippine Consulate Invitational, and on August 3rd at Surrey Golf Course for the First Philippine Golf Interclub Invitational. The First Philippine Golf Interclub is comprised of four clubs: Filcansa, PGA, Par Breakers, and NAMA Golf Club. Instinctive wisdom that aims to the success and enjoyment of organized golf focuses primarily on potential total green fee expenditure that each member may incur over the season. The executive committee exerted great efforts to bring this important factor to the right mix of the usual friendly courses with the new exciting but challenging courses, and still able to fulfill a season of enjoyment and affordability for all. Our guideline for maintaining total green fee cost for members is based on a comparison between all tournament games in the previous year and the schedule we have established this coming 2002 season. Although almost all courses have raised their green fees, the 2002 tournament venues and costs still fall within the same total cost range of the 2001 season. In order to maintain integrity of the game and adhere to the Rules of Golf by RCGA, we are appointing two Golf Rule Officers within the membership, outside of the executive committee. The Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner of the Club will perform overseeing this function. The NAMA Golf Club will renew its group membership with RCGA, and its "Rules of Golf and the Rules of Amateur Status" will govern our game. Although we will keep the rules as basis of our game, we are presently investigating other possibilities of calculating our players' handicap index. We believe this is achievable by next season. The maximum handicap index will be established at the maximum allowed by the RCGA. To establish your handicap as a new member, you must play at least five games or submit a handicap card from another club. Tie-breaker: ties at the end of a match will be decided by regression. The player with the lowest score on the hardest holes in reverse order will be the winner.   GROUPINGS, PLAY FORMAT Fair Play for everyone regardless of official handicap --- a player with an index of 12 will always have difficulty to win a match against a player with an index of 36. This example shows that the low handicapper gives the other player a stroke on each hole, meaning a par score on each hole yields a net result of birdie on every hole for the high handicapper. The low handicap player will never have a chance to raise that big championship trophy at the end of each year. To resolve this issue we created two groups based on handicap indexes. Players with official indices from 12.2-23.7 will form the St. Andrews Group , and indices between 23.8-33.3 will be the Augusta Group. At the end of the tournament season, there will be a declared winner and major trophy for each group. Fair chances are established and the incentive for everyone to develop their game becomes tremendous. To add excitement to our games and to have more fun through the season as we approach the two Masters Tournaments, we added the formats of Doubles and Match Play. These tournaments demand confirmed high attendance and will be played on specific dates. The tournament dates assigned will be re-marked on your Tournament & Confirmation Schedule. Explanation of rules and paring will be put on separate sheets and will be distributed. On other tournament dates we will still continue to play the regular foursome stroke play. It is important to know that to qualify to the two-day Masters Tournaments in August 2002, each player must have played a minimum of (6) tournaments.   NAMA Golf Club Y2002 Tournament Schedule: March 9 12:00 PM Belmont GC March 23 12:00 PM Red Woods GC April 6 9:30 AM The Falls GC April 20 12:30 PM Carnoustie GC May 12 12:51 PM Fort Langley GC May 26 1:00 PM Surrey GC June 1 TBA Swan-e-Set GC - Non-NAMA Tournament June 8 1:00 PM Carnoustie GC June 23 2:00 PM Surrey GC July 6 10:00 AM Golden Eagle (North) Course July 21 10:00 AM Golden Eagle (South) Course August 3 TBA Surrey GC - Non-NAMA Tournament August 10 12:24 PM Fort Langley GC - Masters Tournament August 11 12:30 PM Fort Langley GC - Masters Tournament August 24 12:30 PM Carnoustie GC Sept 8 12:30 PM Carnoustie GC Sept 21 10:00 AM Golden Eagle GC (North) Oct 5 11:30 AM Fort Langley GC - NAMA Golf Championship NAMABC Golf Newsletter contributed by Ruffy Magallanes, Marvin Magallanes & Greg Narciso, HTML by the WebMaster.