Maria Rafaela Singson - Golfer

About

I started Golf at the age of 7 when my dad brought my sister and I to Apo Golf & Country Club in Davao City to hit a few balls. Growing up, my sister and I spent our after-school-hours in the golf course practicing and getting lessons. We started participating in small junior tournaments in different cities like Cebu, Davao, Bukidnon and Manila. Eventually my sister decided to pursue music and left the sport while I grew to love it more.

At 10 years old, I started to put a lot more interest in the sport and put in more time and effort to improve.
At 12, I got recruited into a prestigious training pool called the “ICTSI Foundation Inc.” and made the big decision to leave everything behind. I had to say goodbye to my family and friends and moved to the other side of the country to pursue my dreams. It was scary but definitely worth it.

In the training pool, I lived in the team house and had full-time training. We had workouts and 10-12 hour golf practice everyday. Being part of that team opened so many doors and opportunities. We were sent out to play tournaments regularly around Asia and the USA. I was able to experience watching, practicing and playing with great players from different countries. My older teammates were some of the top amateurs in the country. Training as a team, I learned so much and had a lot of fun with them both on and off the course. We were very well taken care of and I am super grateful for every part of it. After a few years, the members of the team had to move on to the next big steps in their lives, some went to college, some stayed to train, but we no longer train as a team. I am still fortunate and grateful for the support from the ICTSI Foundation Inc. until now.

Over the pandemic, everything shut down, including the golf courses. I went home to Davao City and spent time with my family. My grandfather built me a hitting net at home so that I could hit a few balls there for the mean time. Since we couldn’t go out, I did what I could to improve at home. I worked out everyday to stay in shape, I chipped around, hit a few balls and ate well. Eventually, golf courses started opening up with added safety restrictions. I played back in my home course with my dad for a few months.

After a few months, the local pro tournaments started hosting events in a bubble for safety. I decided to fly back out to Manila to get back to training and be fit to join the tournaments. I joined 4 tournaments in the Ladies Philippine Golf Pro Tour  in 2021. I finished T2, T5, T4 and T6 in those tournaments.

It is now 2022 and I am excited to say that I have a lot of tournaments lined up. I now play for and train with the Philippine National Team. I can’t wait to see what this year has in store for me. :)