MANILA, Philippines?Three weeks and a few days before he died, Dr. Agripino ?Penny? Reloza, confined at the Makati Medical Center for the 18th time since his medical condition was diagnosed less than a year ago, was told of the critical condition her daughter Margie was in. Margie is a pediatrician practicing in the United States.

That morning, she was diagnosed to have a bleeding aneurysm in the brain. As the magnetic resonance imaging plates were handed to Margie?s neurosurgeon friend, he was horrified by what he saw and immediately scheduled a ?stat? or emergency brain surgery. Margie?s life hung on a balance.

Dr. Penny took the news calmly and prayed. Minutes later, he confidently assured his wife Chona (Dr. Asuncion Reloza), a pediatric cardiologist, that their daughter will be all right. He has just made a pact with God to save their daughter?s life, and to take his instead. Despite a weakened voice made audible only with some effort, he was certain that God will grant his request.

Meanwhile, in the United States, a team of brain surgeons worked cautiously on Margie?s aneurysm. It was slowly oozing blood already and any wrong move might make it burst. Upon learning of Margie?s condition, her sister Tina, who?s also practicing dermatology in Illinois, dropped everything to be at her sister?s side.

Good news

Doctors Penny and Chona anxiously waited for news about Margie?s condition. Tina delivered the good news that the operation was a success. Every day, she called several times to update them of Margie?s condition. And just a few days later, Margie was up on her feet, with no sign whatsoever what she had been through. Her surgery and recovery were like a miracle. ?I told you so,? Dr. Penny told his wife and sons Toby and Raffy. ?God is so good.?

Barely three weeks after her critical brain surgery, Margie got a clearance from her neurosurgeon to fly to Manila with sister Tina. It was a touching family reunion. Everyone gathered around the bed as Dr. Penny bid everyone goodbye, with specific instructions for each, including words of endearment for their grandchildren. He thanked and praised God for sparing his daughter?s life. Now, he was ready to keep his part of the bargain. He was ready to go.

Three days later, despite concerted and aggressive efforts by Dr. Penny?s medical team to treat complications of his leukemia-like blood disorder, he breathed his last, with a smile on his face. As he had instructed, his body was cremated on the same day.

An elegant urn contained his ashes. If only ashes still have eyes, he would have loved what he saw: moist earth surrounding the elevated plank of wood where the urn rested; plants and white flowers artistically arranged to make a miniature garden; his favorite wooden driver with his hat on top of the golf club; and golf balls signed by his buddies nestled on the small mounds of earth beneath the wood that bore his urn.

The life of Dr. Penny was so much like the game of golf. And the day he died, he has crossed the greatest hazard and obstacle of them all and has landed in the loveliest green. And God was there holding the flag of the last hole, saying, ?Great round of golf, Penny.?

Penny?s life was indeed a great round of golf.

Highly respected

Dr. Reloza was one of the country?s highly respected cardiologists, practicing at the Philippine Heart Center and Makati Medical Center. He was a past president of the Philippine Heart Association (PHA) and Philippine College of Cardiology (PCC). He also chaired the Specialty Board of Adult Cardiology (SBAC) which is the standards gatekeeper of the PHA-PCC making sure that only competent cardiologists earned the titles of diplomate in cardiology and fellow of the PCC; and that only well-equipped and well-organized training institutions are allowed to train would-be cardiologists.

Dr. Penny lived life and practiced his profession with the same passion he showed in the golf course. In golf, every swing is critical but in 18 holes of play, a player spends only an average of 10 minutes swinging but four hours or more analyzing, visualizing and preparing to make the swing. You rush a swing, and chances are, it will be a bad swing, he would tell his buddies.

Dr. Penny hated mediocrity. ?If you accept to do a job, you have to make sure you have prepared for the job and you know you can do it well,? he once said when he was the chair of the SBAC. He was one of those who pushed for the standardization of the training program in Cardiology, defining clearly the minimum competencies expected of each trainee on a yearly basis. It would have been a big tragedy if the Philippine Heart Association churned out hurriedly trained and half-baked cardiologists, he would say. Indeed, training of would-be cardiologists, on whose hands would rest the lives of so many critically-ill heart patients in the future, could not be rushed.

I never had a chance to play golf with Dr. Penny, but I could almost hear him counseling his half-serious golf buddies, ?Don?t rush your swing.?

The follow-through action in the golf swing is important. A great stance or ?porma? doesn?t assure of a good swing unless you do the necessary follow-through. Once Dr. Penny believed in something, he expressed it in no ambiguous terms, and made sure he did what needed to be done to successfully achieve what he believed in. He was an action person and he showed his leadership by example, through his own action. He was blessed with looks to make ?porma? but he knew and showed that ?porma? was meaningless without action.

And Dr. Penny never minced his words to express his conviction, something which might have earned the displeasure of some people. Not a few can recall the annual general assembly of the PHA wherein he stood for what he believed in and argued for it no matter what the majority might have thought. It might have been like driving from the rough, but he swung with the same passion, if not more, to get his ball out of the rough. And then, as in many times, he did.

A measure of integrity

Golf has always been regarded as a gentleman?s sports. ?How one plays golf is a measure of his integrity,? Dr. Penny would tell his golf buddies. And a true gentleman always keeps his part of the bargain. As Dr. Penny did until the very end.

In golf, hazards in so many forms make the game exciting and a good instrument for character-building. They add speed and volume to the pulse and make the palm sweat. Scorecards are shredded in their wake; and the player, once having succumbed to them, will do the rounds again to tackle them and prevail over them.

Everyone knew Dr. Penny as a truly determined person, very strong-willed. No challenge was for him too great, no obstacle insurmountable that can deter him from pursuing what he believed in. He looked at the bunkers and water hazards of life as simply part of the territory. He focused more on what he wanted to achieve rather than what problems lay ahead. Mind over matter, he would tell us.

Up to the end, he showed this willful determination. For almost a year, he gallantly fought the battle brought about by his illness. He showed the determination to overcome it despite the odds. He knew that this was probably the deepest bunker, the most difficult rough he was trying to get out of, but he swung fiercely and furiously, like he never swung before? again and again as his ball kept rolling back to the same spot it was? until he was too weak to swing.

And as he lay weakened by his gallant effort, Divine Providence took over and got his ball out of the rough, over all the hazards of his life and landed it safely on the green, where serenity is utmost; where there is no more disappointment in a bad slice or hook; no more aches and pains; no more discomfort and illness; no more sorrow and despair. That day, he scored an eagle, or perhaps an albatross. And God was pleased with the great golf of life Dr. Penny Reloza has played.