Mr. Unorthodox is back

Mr. Unorthodox is back and is better than ever!

Veteran ball striker Jess Wabol signaled his return to prominence in the local golf scene by winning last Saturday’s 4th Annual NMC Foundation Open at the Laolao Bay Golf Resort.

The former Oleai Elementary School principal said he was pretty happy all the hard work he put in to return to the level he once was in the sport has finally paid off.

“It was a long time coming. All the hard work that I put in since I was injured is finally paying dividends, even though it took the most parts of three years,” he said.

Prior to playing for the CNMI National Golf Team for the 2003 Suva South Pacific Games, Wabol was sidelined for a year with back problems.

Even with a bad back, Wabol however still managed to make the team but not without an awful amount of suffering to go along with it.

“Practice rounds for the SPG were the most difficult because I hardly finished my practice rounds and I spent most of my time on the hospital, day and night, following games. If I wasn’t down on the golf course, I was down at CHC (Commonwealth Health Center) getting my back treated,” he said.

But through the wonders of medicine and his own perseverance to make it back to top form, Wabol slowly but surely recovered and after 36 months is once again one of the most feared golfers in championship flight.

Wabol showcased his newfound confidence in his golf game last Saturday when he shot a tournament-best two-under 70. He beat the likes of veteran duffers Joji Taguchi and Sasaki Oliver, who finished with identical one-over 73s.

“It was typical golfer’s conditions. It was raining, it was shining, fast winds, tough roughs. It was pretty hard because the roughs were dry. Generally it was a pleasant day for golf, especially when you end up winning,” he said.

Having played the game since he and NMASA Hall of Famer Tony Satur fashioned makeshift clubs out of guava tree branches during their elementary years, Wabol definitely has experience on his side and he displayed it early and often last Saturday.

“I felt pretty confident and I kept telling myself not to get greedy and not to do stupid mistakes. A classic example was on hole No. 5. It was a par-five and I just wanted to put the ball on the fairway and I hit my four-wood on the middle. I had a chance of getting more than a birdie, but it would’ve been risky. In the end, I did a pretty good third shot and putted for birdie,” he said.

Since retiring from government service, Wabol now has more time to devote to his family and his passion for playing golf.

The Chalan Lau Lau resident said that working at Chip Charlie along Middle Road and serving as an instructor with the Northern Mariana Islands Junior Golf League has also proven to be a boon to his golf game.

“I’ve been putting a lot of work since I started working at Chip Charlie. I try to wake up early in the morning just to put in 20 minutes of chipping. I also work with the local youth golfers on Thursday and Friday and used that time to further work on my game. So, all those small things put together made it possible for me to come back to top form,” said Wabol.

He said he is dedicating his NMC Foundation Open victory to friends who have always been very supportive and even friends who had doubts and questioned whether he could come back. In particular, Wabol thanked best friend Gus Camacho for standing by him through thick and thin.

“I would like to recognize and give thanks to my best friend Gus. He’s the one who encouraged me to keep on plugging. When the chips were down, Gus was the one who told me ‘knowing you, you’re going to come back’ and he was right. Even thought it took a while, I think I’m finally were I’m supposed to be—a champion.”