Written by: Justin
Visual by: Macy
Participating in the South East Asian games to represent your home country is something many could only dream of. But with a recent qualifying tournament, Jed Dy, an ISM golf prodigy secured his spot in the 31st SEA Games. He is one of two players who have qualified for the Philippines golf team thus far, and will be flying out on May 12 to attend the games in Vietnam.
The aspiration to compete in the SEA games began when Jed was 15 years old. He shares, “At that time, I wanted to join the Philippine Team in order to compete for the South East Asian Games. Unfortunately, I only qualified as an alternate and was not able to play. Since then I have been looking forward to the next opportunity which so happens to be this year.”
When asked about his biggest motivation for competing at the games, Jed said, “I wanted to represent our country.” In order to get this opportunity, he had to endure a grueling six day qualifying tournament that took place in the renowned Luisita Golf and Country Club in Tarlac. The format consisted of two stages with four rounds each for a total of 8 rounds of golf. He competed against 24 top amateur players from across the nation invited to the event for two prestigious spots on the Philippine team.
In the first two rounds, Jed had a rocky start attributable to his forced two year hiatus from tournament golf due to COVID. His shaky start placed him in 12th among the 24 athletes, requiring a good rally to reach the top two. He did just that and in the following two rounds, he performed much better registering scores of 71 and 74 in comparison to his first scores of 77 and 80. He successfully clawed his way back into contention and ended the first stage tied for second.
The second stage took place on one of the two courses in Asia designed by Golf Hall of Famer Robert Trent Jones Sr., with a course rating of 75.4. During the second stage, Jed was able to stay collected and dissect the championship course. He played extremely well, scoring under par on three of the four rounds. He also put his craft on display, from his power off the tee to his soft touch around the greens.
With a remarkable performance, Jed placed in the top two and survived the Philippines team qualifying tournament earning a spot on the roster. He fulfilled his dream and will be representing the Philippines against the other 10 Southeast Asian countries. He mentioned that he has been preparing for the competition through daily practices for both physical fitness and golf. And when asked about his goals going into the games, Jed said, “I want to finish top 3 as an individual so I win a medal. My goal is to win a medal.”
Overall participating in the SEA games is a great honor, and Jed has become one of the elite few to do it. However, he still has his eyes on the long term dream of becoming a professional golfer and playing in the PGA tour. This opportunity to represent the Philippines is a huge milestone in Jed’s very exciting future in golf, and will definitely push him closer to his ultimate goal.