The 3rd CIKOGA Championship

Date: 2017/08/25

Time: 1:28 pm

M Tee: White 6,505 71.6/133 Par: 72

S Tee: Gold 6,308 70.7/133 Par: 72

W Tee: Red 5,728 73.2/129 Par: 73

Payout 1 skin = $2.22...3 = ($20 / 9)

B. Chung ties the most major wins records!

H. Lee. CIKOGA Reporter

In life, there are three certain things - death, tax, and B. Chung's golf skill. He captured his first CIKOGA Championship win and collected his 3rd career major. He never lost whenever he appeared at the major, which makes 100% winning guarantee. His 3rd major win puts his name into CIKOGA Hall of Fame.

Although he struggled a little bit by hitting unusual out-of-bound at the 2nd hole, his iron shot was near flawless hitting 17 out of 18 greens in regulation. He is not used to playing at the shortened white tee at the Lick Creek so he wasn't sure what is the best way to attack the course. Putter did not help much and tricky green at Lick Creek forced him to make 4 putts in one hole. However, he never let his playing partner Yim to lead the field even once; the best Yim could do was staying close to Chung within 1 stroke throughout the day. B. Chung posted an unusual high number +8 but it was enough to capture the win.

With shortened tee, Lick Creek favored accurate hitters than long hitters. After skipping The Open, Choo has successfully rebuilt his golf swing and posted +12. As usual, his short game was sharp and putting was spectacular. He started with a birdie from the very first hole and rarely made a costly mistake. He made 9 pars and the only glitch was triple on hole 7. Choo was the only player who shot under par (-2) in net score.

The race for the 2nd was very tight until Yim made the triple at the last hole. The 18th hole at Lick Creek always has been a great risk/reward hole. Yim decided to take a short cut by hitting the right side of fairway where water threatens the player who hits too long. Yim made a precise T-shot but the second shot was a disaster due to downhill lie. As a big hitter, he aimed for a spectacular eagle by reaching the green in two but the ball ended up in the water. Instead, he ended up with a triple bogey and yielded his chance to secure the 2nd place by posting +14. S. Bae also played solid and posted the same +14. However, her handicap (12) is one point higher than Yim (11) so the trophy went to Yim. Yim also tied with Choi in net score (+3) but his low handicap helped him to win another MegaBall ($60 jackpot). As a president of CIKOGA, Yim kindly donated his jackpot money for purchasing beer cans and shared them during dinner at Than-Linh.

Since Choo won the 2nd place, S. Lee was awarded as the net champion with +1 net score. He is a veteran player who could shoot 70s easily before he had a tragic head-collision car accident in Korea that required major surgery on his entire body decades ago. His recovery and rehab was quite successful and he now enjoys playing golf again, which he never imagined due to his aching body. This was his first appearance in CIKOGA major yet he donated extra $50 during registration. His love of golf and strong spirit shined through his net champion medal.

The closest pin winner title went to Dr. Chang and Prof. Liu and stopped Chung's dominance in iron games. As you can guess, Chung won the remaining two. Chung kindly donated and awarded two boxes of Titleist balls to the winners.

Last but not least, Y. Chong from Caterpillar has donated a set of very special gifts - Tom Watson photo with his signature, 3-ball bag, 2 USB car charger, golf towel, and shoe bag. These gifts will be awarded at the future CIKOGA event. This major was quite significant because we had the first generous corporate sponsor like Caterpillar and the past CIKOGA Championship winners won top 3 trophies and stood in front of camera. As we expect more participants from all around the globe and bigger challenge from young players, we never see the three CIKOGA legends standing together on the podium. Also, we cannot wait to see who will win at the 2018 CIKOGA Masters and claim the 4 major wins first.