Balajadia said his worst hole was hole No. 14 and his best performance was hole No. 10.<\/p>\n
\u201cI bombed a drive and had 15 yards left to the green but made a bogey on hole No. 14. As Joe \u2018Kamikaze\u2019 Camacho would say, \u2018nice drive.\u2019 But my best hole was hole No. 10. I wasn\u2019t comfortable with my 9 iron, and I was disciplined to back away and use my 8 iron to hit the green and made a double breaking putt for a birdie. I didn\u2019t make double bogey or worse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He then dedicated his victory to \u201cGod always first, my parents, and all the single ladies ages 60-70 who always help in the churches.\u201d<\/p>\n
On his love for golf, Balajadia quoted pro golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez. \u201cHe once said, \u2018golf is the most fun you can have with your clothes on.\u2019 Golf is like life. We each have to play our own game and stop comparing our game with someone else. We have ups and downs, but right now you have the choice to move forward. One bad swing is better than a having a bad attitude. We try to improve everyday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before becoming a priest, Balajadia was an up-and-coming golfer and learned the sport under the auspices of golf legends Jeff Taylor, Eddie Peter, and Attorney General Edward Manibusan, among others.<\/p>\n
Second place went to Pencheng Wu with his net 70, who beat third place Wil Maui in a scorecard tiebreaker after both players finished with an identical net score after 18 holes.<\/p>\n
Freddy Salavaria and Das Krishnan rounded out the Top 5 with also an identical net score of 70.40 with the former nosing out the latter via the proverbial scorecard tiebreak. A special award also went to Richard Lizama with the second-to-the-last highest score.<\/p>\n
Nearest to the pin winners were Carl Hocog, William Retardo, and Wan Sub Lee.<\/p>\n
Saipan Pacific Lions Club extended their appreciation to the organizing Fil-Taga Golfers Association, headed by Tony Cabrera, Ruben Avendano, Miguel Cruz, Jr., and Dan Ganacias. They also thanked Tom Palikkum, Tony Satur, and event sponsors for their substantial support, both in-kind and monetary, which significantly contributed to the tournament\u2019s triumph. The awards ceremony emcees were Melanie M. Galapon and Tony Cabrera.<\/p>\n
The list of sponsors include the following: KWAW FM Radio, LCI District 204 governor Blanca Imbo, Saturnino Banting, Elizabeth\/Sancho Escober, Pacific Homes Appliances\/Toshiba, Marianas Insurance Underwriters, Inc., TSL Foundation, Saipan Mayor Ramon B. \u201cRB\u201d Camacho, Monito Co, Romeo Villaluna, Ronaldo Hidalgo, Herbie Perez, Bongbong Martinez, Blossoms Flower Shop, JET Holdings, Inc., Cargo Express, ChowTime, Coca-Cola, Coral Ocean Point, Crown Plaza Resort Saipan, Delta Management, Inc., KL Carr, Saipan Shipping, Inc., MJ Corp., Cecilia Pagapular, Aqua Resort Club, D&Q Saipan, Genpro International, Inc., Marianas Printing, Inc., Himawari, Hong Electric, Alicia Barbo, Donata Fronda, Delta Management, Inc., Gree Air Conditioner Saipan, Gold Ribbon Bakeshop & Restaurant, Hardt Eye Clinic, Herman\u2019s Modern Bakery, LN Supermarket, Marianas Medical Supplies, MARPAC, Kanto #10, Miguel Cruz Jr., Marie Javier, National Office Supply, New Paradise Flower Shop, JTM Snack & BBQ Grill, Relox Bar, Saint Trading, Inc., Saipan Ice & Water Co., Star Water Co., Inc., Trader\u2019s Insurance Co., Inc., Wushin Corp., Pacific Saipan, Inc. Dba One Pacific Distributors, YCO Hardware, Shirley\u2019s Coffee Shop, Kautz Glass, LaoLao Bay Golf & Resort, Multiline Supply, Franco Santos, Ahbhu Auto Care, Sandra and Christopher Manalo, Ahbhu Auto Care Employees, Saipan Invincible Lions Club president Ian B. Manalo and member volunteers, and Kim \u201cSang\u201d Sanghoon.<\/p>\n
Kristo Rai Parish and Santa Remedios Parish priest Fr. James Balajadia, right, with golf buddies in this undated photo.<\/p>\n -CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Kristo Rai Parish and Santa Remedios Parish priest Fr. James Balajadia takes a swing in this file photo from a recent golf tournament.<\/p>\n -CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Father James Balajadia dusted off his old golf clubs and won the 3rd Annual Saipan…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-410535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410535\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/imgupload\/00547bef80d33bf58f0c480fcedff678.jpg\")
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