Flightless Santos tops MTEC Golf Classic

Franco Santos had a birdie-less round but parred enough holes to win the Championship Flight of the 2023 Marianas Tourism Education Council Golf Classic last Saturday morning in the greens of the Lao Lao Bay Golf & Resort west course.

In a scorecard playoff, the tie breaking hole was No. 10—which was the second lowest handicap hole—as the NMI National Golf Team hopeful shot a gross score of three-over 75 after 15 pars and three bogeys.

Santos scored a par on holes No. 1-3, No. 5-6, No. 8-12, and No. 14-18. He hit the bogeys in holes No. 4, No. 7, and No. 13.

Second place went to Joshua Atalig with a gross score of 75 and third place was Joseph Muna with a gross score of 77.

The Marianas Alliance for Nongovernmental Organizations finance manager said that, with the bogeys, “They were just short punts that I couldn’t make go in.” As everything else was pars and he didn’t hit a birdie, his “game today was to play for pars and I guess it worked out,” he said.

Santos was also the volunteer tournament director and helped tabulate the scores. Of his initial reaction to finding out he won, he said, “When I was tabulating the scores and I saw that I was tied and when I was doing the scorecard playoff and when I realized that I won, I was surprised because I didn’t know a par would win it.”

He didn’t expect to win and he thought he was going to come in second or third place with the scores he was finishing with—but with the scorecard playoff and making a par, it helped him win the championship.

About the competition, the Refaluwasch Golf Association member said, “The course was really wet. If you didn’t know what kind of shot to play, you wouldn’t get the positive outcome in your next shot. So, when I played today, I always tried to play for the green and two putts—so I guess that’s what made today possible for me to win the championship flight.”

He gave a shoutout to the winners as most of them are members of the RGA.

A golfer of 13 years, Santos said he hopes to make the cut for the CNMI National Golf team for the 2023 Pacific Games this November as he might miss two of the qualifiers. He said he needs to place on top of the next two qualifiers that he attends.

The Top 3 all received a bottle of wine from D&Q while Santos received $300, Atalig received $200, and Muna got $100.

Proceeds of the tournament will go to the education work of the non-profit organization Marianas Tourism Education Council, which focuses on community outreach and school tourism MY WAVE Clubs. MTEC marks its 22nd anniversary this year.

The sponsors of the event were LaoLao Bay Golf & Resort, Joeten Motors, Triple J, IT&E, Top Shelf Wine/Spirits Saipan, Bank of Guam, Bridge Capital LLC., RNV Construction, Island Training Solutions, Hawaiian Rock Products, Tan Siu Lin Foundation, 103.9 KZMI, MarPac, Tinian Diamond, KSPN2, Magic 100FM, Joeten Superstore, Marianas Variety, Saipan Advertising, Saipan Shipping Co., Century Insurance, Kensington Hotel Saipan, Power 99, WESTCO, KKMP, JG Sablan Ice & Water Inc., Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan, Mobil, Coral Ocean Resort Saipan, Saipan World Resort, Pacific Islands Club, D&Q, Pizza Hut, Wushin Gas, HANMI, 3HiRes, I Love Saipan, Godfather’s, Grandvrio Resort Saipan, Saipan Ice & Water Co., Napu Brewing Co., and Skydive Saipan.

Results of the other flights will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.