Golfers aim for medal podium finish

The CNMI Golf Team is back in the Pacific Games and is hoping to make it to the medal podium after nearly finishing in the Top 3 in the team event on two occasions.

The squad, composed of Jess Wabol, Jeff Taylor, Tony Satur, and Adam Hardwicke, will be leaving Saipan this weekend to represent the CNMI in the 2011 Pacific Games in New Caledonia.

Wabol will be on his fifth Pacific Games stint (1985, 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2011) after missing the 2007 edition of the quadrennial meet in Samoa. Taylor will have his second Pacific Games appearance, while Satur and Hardwicke are debuting in the regional competition. Taylor won a bronze medal in the individual event in his Pacific Games debut in 1995 in Tahiti. Satur was also part of the 1995 team, but did not play, as he served as manager.

“Tony, even though he didn’t play in Tahiti, and Jeff had already experienced the level of competition in the Pacific Games, so that’s good news for us. Adam maybe be a first-timer, but he had been through a lot of tough competitions here and won some of them, so he knows how it feels like to compete against great players,” said Wabol.

Wabol is considering himself the dark horse, as he hasn’t been playing in local tournaments and opted to train on his own due to a back problem.

“As a team, I believe we have a good chance of making it to the medal podium this time,” Wabol said.

In 1995, the CNMI finished fourth, falling behind by only one stroke against Papua New Guinea. In 1999 in Guam, the Commonwealth golfers also fell one notch short of winning a medal when it placed fourth behind the Cook Islands. Again, the CNMI lost the bronze medal by only one stroke.

This year’s golf competition in the Pacific Games will run from Aug. 31 to Sept. 3 at Golf de Tina in the Nouméa. Golf de Tina is a 72-hole, 5,484-yard course and a regular venue for PGA event since 2008.

“It was not the same course we had in 1987, so we really have to check it and get used to it quickly when we arrive in New Caledonia this weekend,” Wabol said.

Fifteen countries are battling for the team and individual medals in the golf event. Joining the CNMI on the list are American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Guam, New Caledonia, Niue, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Wallis & Futuna.

“New Caledonia and Fiji will be our toughest opponents. The Cook Islands, Samoa, and Guam are also expected to field strong golfers,” Wabol said.

American Samoa won the men’s team event in 2007, while the Cook Islands and Fiji finished second and third, respectively. Tahiti claimed the gold medal in the men’s individual event, while Samoa took the silver and bronze medals.

“We will do our best against these favorites and hopefully we can win both in the team and individual events,” the veteran golfer added.