There are also times when a coordinator organizes a game and charge Filipinos a package fee of $80 to $95 each, Yarra explained.
The first package that he said he availed charged him with US$80 (P3,840) for a days play. That fee, he said, included transportation to the golf course and golf fees.
The discrepancy in the charges depends on the coordinator, Yarra said adding they would understand if a coordinator ups the ante and pockets the difference.
He has been addicted to the game so much so that during a lull time in the scheduled and planned golf game circuit, he was still able to play on the side.
He was walking on the cobblestones of Roxas Boulevard, the red sun inching down from the horizon, when he bumped into another group of golfers apparently also taking a leisure stride.
We swapped stories and then they told me they were playing the next day and asked if I wanted to join them; which I did, Yarra said.
Its addictive because its challenging [but at the same time,] builds camaraderie. Plus, of course, you go back to your native land, take a vacation, meet relatives. Every thing [Im looking for is] here already.
Everything that concerns golf, that is.
Yarra is married and has two children who are already working. He retired last year from his work of five years as Electrical Engineer 3, the third highest position in the CTA, the government
In addition, he says, the food served in the local golf clubs are things he and other Filipinos look forward to.
I really look for Filipino snacks. Sa US, mga sandwiches. Nakakasawa. E dyan sa Intramuros may nilagang saging, may buko. Ang tumpok ng saging, tatlo bente (three for P20). Sa US, walang nagbabaon ng nilagang itlog dun.
Green
IN THE Philippines, where the only public golf course is the one being managed by the Department of Tourism in Intramuros, Manila, migrants and even foreigners rely on the sponsorship of a private golf club member so they can play.
Yarra said the Intramuros tee time fee is the lowest at P1,000 (roughly US$22) plus around P500 for the food and a standard P500-tip to the caddie.
Private golf courses, however, charge as much as P2,500 ($54.25) to P3,000 ($65.20) for a game.
In the US, golfers rarely get the service of caddies. They just rent golf carts at $15 or walk greens.
It would be too expensive to have a caddie in the US [because they would expect hourly pay rates], Yarra said adding that those who get caddie services are tournament players or Hollywood celebrities.
Yarra said that this spending range alone makes it difficult for a regular earning Filipino to play the game in his or her own country.
But, he clarified, that it is also difficult for regular earning Pinoys in the US to play in private golf courses.
They also cant afford the fees in these privately-owned clubs, he added.
Of course they will [also] look for something cheaper [that] is also enjoyable and satisfying, Yarra said.
He added the last two reasons prompt golfers like him to fly to Manila despite the fees now higher than in the US because of a strong peso.
We can afford to stay in hotels because they accept dollars so an uptick in the peso value doesnt affect us, Yarra said.
His stay in the Manila Pavillion Hotel cost him US$45 while a night at Edsa-Shangri-la Hotel cost him around $130.
Unlike staying with relatives, staying in hotels allows him to come and go as he pleases, maximizing his vacation time to play golf.
Yarra claims to have played seven games at the greens of Intramuros for the first days he was here.
After a two-day rest, he played two more games also at the public golf course in Intramuros with the group of Filipinos he bumped into while on a leisure walk along the Manila Bay.
A day before he flew back to Chicago, Yarra said he played a total of ten games in Manila and one each with groups on golf courses in four other provincial cities outside the metropolis.
He says he estimates to have spent his US$6,000 budget including pocket money, golf fees, and travel expenses for that vacation.
For doing so, the local golf industry have found a new profitable leash to hold on. OFW Journalism Consortium / (davaotoday.com)
OFWS & Migration, Pinoy Life Abroad
