Sandbaggers Cup 2017: The BPO-ICT Alliance Ryder Cup Challenge
By: Marge Friginal-Sanchez
Tags: Ict, Golf, Networking Events, Bpo, John Clements

By Carlo Miguel Lao

The 2nd Sandbaggers Cup of 2017: The BPO-ICT Alliance Ryder Cup Challenge was held last September 22, 2017, Friday at the Legends Course of the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club. Around 100 golfers arrived to participate in the tournament, composed of both senior and young leaders in the BPO and ICT communities.

Once again, John Clements Consultants was obliging to send an employee — yours truly — to join this well-organized and prestigious tournament, which was organized through a cooperative effort between the CCAP and IBPAP associations.

As early as 5:30 am, participants started arriving to register and enjoy hot coffee and a hearty breakfast– all essential “need-to-do’s” that will prepare the players for the tournament ahead. As we entered, we were automatically greeted by familiar faces — Titos Castro, General Manager of Total Oil- Asia Pacific ROHQ; Dan Reyes, Country Manager of Genpact Philippines; and Mitch Locsin, Vice-President and head of the PLDT Smart SME Nation — all committee members who helped organize the tournament.

While in conversation with familiar and new faces at the breakfast receiving area, MJ Nama, a colleague of mine from the Zenger Folkman team of John Clements, was also holding her own conversations outside while manning the JC booth that showcased both Harvard Business Publishing and Zenger Folkman services. The JC booth also provided putting matts that allowed players to warm up before the game.

Playing as the sole representative of the John Clements team, I could not help but get pre-game jitters. Although upon announcement of the flight assignments, I was fortunate enough to be in the same flight as Rajiv Bose and Rahul Sharma of Teleperformance, both friends of mine whom I have met in previous golf tournaments.

The game followed a “Match Play” set-up, which basically meant that the flight will be composed of two teams (in this case, the BPO and ICT teams). Two players from each team will play every hole as a separate contest against each other. The party that garners a lower score, or has lesser strokes, wins that hole, regardless of how many shots he won the hole by. If the scores of both players and teams are equal, the hole is “halved”. In the end, the party that wins more holes than the other wins the game.

Considering the heat from the previous days, the players applied sunscreen before the game, but surprisingly, the weather cooperated throughout the duration of the tournament, generating enough clouds to shield the participants from the sun. The tournament was followed by lunch, a raffle, and the awarding ceremonies, which included fun holes, the sandbagger’s award, and the actual tournament winners.

JCCI President and CEO Carol Dominguez and HBP consultant Alexandra Lamb were also there to formally award the sponsored raffle of John Clements, which was one Harvard ManageMentor Key to Mr. Dondi Mapa, the winner.

Overall, the tournament was a big success, and I am grateful to have been able to participate in this event. Aside from the actual opportunity to practice my game, I was also able to reconnect with old contacts, as well as open doors to new relationships with other participants. I believe that we are very lucky to be in a company that encourages its employees to play a quality sport like golf. I have recently just gotten back to learning golf after a 4-year hiatus and got the push I needed from John Clements.

Moving forward, we John Clements golfers hope to participate in more tournaments like this where we can both learn and enjoy, and at the same time, build deeper relationships with different leaders in the industry.