Gary Sales, playing for underdog Eastridge, just dropped his previous match in the tight Federation League final against Orchard.
Yet lo and behold, team captain Thirdy Escaño stuck with him to play the sudden-death playoff hole.
“I don’t play as often as I would like. Sometimes I just play when I have clients,” Sales told Tribune Golf.
“Otherwise, I just play when there are tournaments. Like this Federation League.”
Little did he know that playing in the recent edition of the tournament would once again put him in the spotlight and underscore his ability in the sport that he loved.
Escaño’s battle plan — with Sales as the top gun — paid off handsomely.
“It was not easy. Me and my team of strategists changed lineup maybe at least 10 times,” said Escaño, who admitted to finalizing his lineup only over breakfast the day of the championship.
“I’m just glad I read their fielding right. But more than anything else I have always imparted in my team for as long as we work as one, we can make things happen. And it did.”
He showed that much confidence in Sales. And why not?
In the face of a big challenge the guy has shown an even bigger heart — in both golf and life in general.
He rose from being a tee-boy at Villamor driving range to become its club champion and eventually a pro.
But when things didn’t work out in the circuit. Sales took a step backward, reverted to amateur and instead focused on business.
He put up a string of successful pro shops inside Villamor, Kagitingan, Eagle Ridge, Valley and Camp Aguinaldo golf clubs named Pin High.
Recently he opened a spa and car wash. Sales manages them through the help of his wife Marienelle with whom he shared four sons namely Harry, Morgan, Prince Gary, and Grayson.
Truly a success story through and through.
That alone was enough for anyone to count on him when the chips are down.
“Actually, Gary Sales lost his match but they fielded him in the sudden death and he sank the winning putt. So, the faith of the team captain on Gary’s heart and skill was more the story after Gary’s heroics,” said Arsenic Laurel, Federation of Golf Clubs Philippines Inc., treasurer and spokesperson.
True enough, it eclipsed the fact that Orchard held an overwhelming advantage, man-for-man, entering last Friday’s finals at home.
And it speaks of how well Sales handled himself under grinding pressure.
Like his 300-yard drive in the best-ball format playoff hole that found its mark on the lips of the green. Imagine how that shot lifted the spirit of his teammate Mike Uy, and sank that of their rivals Aidric Chan and Jey Hernandez.
But the death knell sounded when Sales chipped to within seven feet while the rest of the foursome were either trying to get out of the bunker or re-teeing from out-of-bounds.
And in true championship moment, Sales hit a feathery that sent the rest of Eastridge players rejoicing while the ball was halfway down the hole.
“I just felt the adrenaline rush after that,” Sales said. “When everything depended on your next shot, you got to give everything you got.”
Hence, the spectacular ending to the meet that was mothballed by the pandemic.
Laurel credited that success to the Federation League style of play.
“We were at each other’s throats in a battle of pride and honor in the course. but warm and friendly after the matches. I can’t wait for next season,” he said.
For all the suspense and drama it provided at least to the competing teams, the rest of the league could hardly wait as well.
