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Golfers up for unfamiliar course
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Posted on Jun 27 2019
Ryan Kim, seen here chipping a shot during a local tournament at the Laolao Bay Golf & Resort, will be joining Joe “Kamikaze” Camacho, J.J. Atalig, Marco Peter, and Sebastian Camacho in Samoa to represent the CNMI in the 2019 Pacific Games. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
The CNMI Golf National Team sees an unfamiliar golf course as the challenge more than its competitors in the 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa.
“We have no idea what the course is like,” player/coach Joe “Kamikaze” Camacho said last Saturday after competing in the 2019 Joeten Memorial Golf Classi on the east course of the Laolao Bay Golf & Resort.
The golf event in the Pacific Games will be held at the Royal Samoa Golf Course. Royal Samoa is an 18-hole, par 72, 5,445-yard facility located in Fagali’i, which is about five kilometers southeast of the main hub of the Games—Apia. It started as a nine-hole course and though no definite description of the course is available, golf sites’ reviews say it boasts of a hilly terrain with the par-5 No. 1 hole the longest at 474 yards and the par-3 No. 13 the shortest at 126 yards. No. 9, 11, and 16 are the other par-5 holes.
“We don’t know if it’s a resort type just like what we are use to here at Laolao. We don’t even want to ask someone from Samoa because we also don’t know his skill level so his assessment on the course may not be accurate,” said Camacho.
“Right now, we are just lowering our expectation, as far as the condition of the course is concerned. The course is definitely our biggest challenge, but we’re prepared for the worst. We will see it for ourselves and hopefully we could adjust quickly,” he added.
Camacho will be joined in the Pacific Games by Ryan Kim, Sebastian Camacho, J.J. Atalig, and Marco Peter.
Though they are concerned about the condition of the course, Joe said they are all set for the competition.
“I am pretty satisfied with how were are playing and training. We’re very prepared,” the team captain said.
Joe finished third in the Championship Flight of the Joeten tournament, while Atalig was the winner of the division. Kim, Camacho, and Marco Peter also earned notable finishes in at least two of the three to four tournaments they competed in this year as part of their preparations for the Pacific Games.
The golf competition in Samoa will be held from July 10 to 13 with the CNMI going up against 13 other nations and vying for four medals at stake in the event.
