UP Golf Club apologizes for its hashtag after backlash

(SPOT.ph) A newly formed club at the University of the Philippines is off to a rocky start: they have already released an official statement apologizing for a certain hashtag they used on a Facebook post, even though their very existence has become a hot topic online. THE UP Golf Club apologized on October 16 for the use of #wagnyopokaminakawansacampus on one of their posts, claiming it was added in response to comments on social media.

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UP Golf Club apologizes for ‘controversial hashtag’

“We sincerely apologize for the decision to add the hashtag “#wagnyopokaminakawansacampus”, which unfortunately caused a misunderstanding of the principles and mission of our club. We take full responsibility for the abrupt decision to include the said hashtag” , the statement said. This hashtag was initially attached to an October 13 post about the club’s meet at a golf course in Quezon City, and was removed the same day based on edit history, but not before THE the Internet could react.

According to the statement, the club was “prompted” to include the hashtag after comments containing “threats of assault, sexual harassment and assault against our members.” The statement said: “We also deplore comments on social media that conveyed messages endangering the safety of our members.”

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UP Golf Club: Can golf one day be for everyone?

Although it was this long hashtag that sparked the most vocal reaction, the new club became popular simply because of what it is: a golf club located in the Philippines’ main state university. And as the first hashtag of the now-viral Facebook post shows, they say #golfisforall.

“The club is aware of the barriers to entry that exist to participate in this sport,” they added in the press release. “Recognizing this allows us to stay true to our vision and commit to making sport more inclusive and accessible to people from different backgrounds.” Other “community projects and events” have been added to their roster to put this philosophy into practice, including free golf tutoring for beginners, free golf clinics, open sessions, and training for aspiring UP students . All of this will be financed through revenue-generating projects and sponsorships, the statement said.

Although the comments section on the official statement was rather mixed, with some congratulations, some still pointed out that it wasn’t just the use of the long hashtag that was the problem. Golf is, after all, known to be a rich man’s game, from the tools you need to the time and, of course, space. A club like this signals something different from the University of the Philippines, where students are called mga isko at iska. Will offering free courses change that?

The National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates (NNARA) – Youth UP Diliman issued its own statement on October 14 to express why “golf does not give,” preceded by recognition of the “democratic right to organize and join organizations. They made their statement in three points: golf is not for everyone if it involves travel, golf is not for everyone if it does more harm than good to the environment, and golf is not for all if it perpetuates the wage slavery of hard-working Filipinos.

Meanwhile, others responded in the usual Pinoy internet culture way: memes of their own kind of clubs. In other words, clubs that seem out of place in an institution like the University of the Philippines. The correlation is clear. Can a sport, such as it is today, reserved for a few, one day legitimately exist in a school intended for all?