Features

Bianca Pagdanganan: A Beacon For Philippine Golf

By Annika Caniza - January 02, 2025

Bianca Pagdanganan reflects on a year of growth and how it has shaped her for what’s to come. 

The familiar rush of Monday mornings manifested itself even in the Camp Aguinaldo Golf Course. There was a constant flow of flights, golfers lining up for their turn to tee off — routine to most regulars. But on this particular Monday morning, something on the course broke that usual routine; an unexpected cause for traffic. Golf carts stopped in their tracks and players broke away from their flights with their necks craned out as they asked themselves, ‘Is that Bianca Pagdanganan?’ 

Standing in the tee box of Camp Aguinaldo was, in fact, Bianca Pagdanganan, the two-time Olympian and LPGA golfer. Once the other golfers on the links saw that it was her, they had no choice but to put down their clubs, pull out their phones, and ask for photos. Some even asked for her autograph. 

This happened about a dozen or so times. Suddenly, the line to tee off turned into a line to meet the famed Filipina pro. And every request, Bianca gracefully granted. This has pretty much become par for the course — getting recognized by fans — whenever the Filipina comes back to a fairway at home, especially this one. 

Bianca Pagdanganan was raised on this very course. Growing up, she would spend her summers and after-school afternoons at the Camp Aguinaldo Golf Course, playing with her dad and childhood teammates. Years later, the caddies still recognize her. A poster of her now hangs in the lobby of the pavilion. 

Even though she no longer plays here as often as she used to, Bianca has unsurprisingly become the pride and joy of Camp Aguinaldo. 

But this feeling of pride doesn’t only apply to the courses and individuals who have had a hand in the 27-year-old’s journey as a pro golfer. This applies to practically any Filipino around the world. 

Recalling the many competitions she’s played in throughout 2024, Bianca tells The GAME, “It’s such a different feeling when you’re just walking down the fairway and then you see a Philippine flag and people are cheering for you. And these are people you don’t really know.” 

In her many travels last year — around the United States for the LPGA Tour, to Paris for the Olympics, and around Asia — the Filipina has collected fond memories of Filipinos coming to watch her compete, some even offering to welcome her to their homes for meals. 

“It just shows that, you know, you represent something bigger than yourself and you’re playing for a whole country.” 

For country 

Le Golf National, the venue that was chosen to host the 2024 Olympic golf tournament, is notoriously challenging, with its narrow fairways, 10 water-guarded holes, and its final four holes, a finisher referred to as “The Gauntlet,” known for being one of the most challenging final stretches that has put even the world’s best golfers to the test. 

“It was grand,” Bianca reminisces. “I think it was the biggest crowd I ever played in front of.” 

On her final day facing the challenging course, Pagdanganan looked up at the leaderboards spread throughout the fairway, saw where she was standing — she entered the fourth round in a tie for 13th, just five strokes away from the podium — and said to herself, “It’s hammer time.” 

The GAME 2025 January Cover Story with Bianca Pagdanganan

Bianca recognizes that there are two different kinds of competitive athletes: those who would rather know where they stand at any given moment, and those who prefer to simply play the game and uncover the result after all is said and done. 

She belongs to the former. 

“When I have to go, I want to know where I’m at. It kind of fuels my game,” she explains, thinking back to the exhilaration she felt in that moment. Though it may have been added pressure to know where she stood among her competitors after every single shot, to her, it was added motivation. 

“My mindset for the last round was just to go for it because I had nothing to lose and everything to gain…So I was going for every pin. I just gave myself so many opportunities because I knew that every shot was really, really going to count.

“My head felt very clouded, but at the same time clear. It’s like, okay, there are so many things I want to do, but then at the same time, it’s so important to stay patient throughout every shot.”

Her patience and perseverance shined in Paris. From 13th place, the Filipina shot seven birdies against three bogeys to conclude her final day on Le Golf National with a 68 and a tie for fifth with a 6-under 282. And as her competitors started to drop their shots, she suddenly, for a moment, found herself in joint third place on the leaderboard. 

At that moment, with three other players still to finish their final holes, every Filipino watching sat on the edge of their seats, fingers crossed that another homegrown talent would bring home a historic Olympic medal. 

But Bianca admits, even after her final shot, a birdie on the 18th, she knew it wasn’t going to be enough to remain on the podium. 

“Actually, I already knew after the last hole. I knew I sat in third momentarily, but I knew that I was going to drop down a spot, that my round wasn’t enough to keep me at third.

“So that’s why even before one of my interviews, I already was about to cry because I was just like, it wasn’t enough. I already knew.” 

When every player in the women’s individual stroke play finished the final round, Bianca, who entered the Paris Olympics ranked 125th in the world, wound up in fourth place. 

In the moment, it stung. “I was really upset, of course,” she reveals. “But I guess what helped me was knowing that I improved a lot from the last Olympics. There’s a lot of improvement in my game and there are always so many positives to take away.” 

Refusal to settle 

To fall just short of the podium, and at the Olympics no less, can be a tough pill to swallow. But Bianca is right when she says that there are so many positives to take from this result. Put into perspective, what she accomplished in Paris is nothing short of phenomenal. 

Bianca Pagdanganan’s fourth-place finish in Paris is a huge leap from her 43rd-place result at her Olympic debut in Tokyo just three years prior. But even more impressive? Fourth place marks the highest-ever finish for a Filipino golfer, male or female, in Olympic history. 

Not to mention that she also outperformed the top two golfers in the world, Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu. 

Though dropping that one place down might have been heart-wrenching, Bianca now beams and wears the number four with pride. 

Reflecting on the perspective she’s gained from Paris, she shares, “I see a quote everywhere. It’s like, something along the lines of, ‘Where you are now, it’s something you dreamt of before.’ 

“So it’s like, you always have to be grateful for where you finish at these tournaments and everything that you experience. Because again, it’s something that you’ve dreamt of and you can’t really look too far ahead. So enjoy the present.” 

The GAME 2025 January Cover Story with Bianca Pagdanganan

Competitive golf does demand a certain level of poise. All you have is the shot in front of you, and it can make or break your game to think too far ahead, or dwell on the shots that came before. It demands a great deal of presence of mind. 

And Bianca relished the moment. 

“It felt like a different experience,” she says, comparing this experience to the Tokyo Games, which came with many restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“It felt like the Olympics.

Record crowds, a beautiful golf course, the world’s best golfers all in one place. But what made it truly special for Bianca? 

“I was really lucky my family was able to fly out. A lot of my titos and titas were there. I had some cousins.

“And a lot of Filipinos actually showed up,” she recalls with a big smile. “It was so heartwarming.”

To the two-time Olympian, the flags in the crowds and the fans cheering her name were a clear reminder of where she was. Results, comebacks aside — this was a true measure of what she accomplished by simply being at Le Golf National: bringing a sense of national pride to her fellow Filipinos. 

Thriving under pressure 

Golf is a game of precision. A search for perfection. The tiniest of margins can have the biggest of impacts. 

This is exactly what makes it so thrilling for Bianca Pagdanganan. 

The 27-year-old’s leap from a 43rd-place finish in Tokyo to a record-making fourth-place finish in Paris comes down to her search for what she can do better — and in the last three years, she’s found that there is always something that could be better. 

“Just assessing my game after every round,” Bianca shares is the secret to her growth as a player, evidenced by her rise to a career-high 106th world ranking after the Olympics. 

“We take stats. We look at our stats. And obviously, that’s kind of where I base everything off of, almost. But I think it’s hard to be your own critic. I mean, of course, you have to be self-aware of your own game. But at the same time, I think it goes for everyone, some pills are hard to swallow. 

“But it’s what you need to grow as an athlete or even as a person in general…There are so many areas of improvement.”

This is what she loves about the game of golf. A player’s “peak” can always feel like it’s still out there, something you can continuously strive for. 

“Everyone’s process isn’t the same. Everyone’s journey isn’t the same to become a better golfer. So it’s really looking at the tiniest aspects of my game and seeing what I can do to make it better.” 

The GAME 2025 January Cover Story with Bianca Pagdanganan

Bianca has learned, ever since she made her professional debut in 2020, that even the harshest of criticisms are all a part of the process. This has gifted her an admirable outlook on pressure. 

“I tend to thrive under pressure,” she proudly asserts, particularly looking back at her finish in the 2024 LPGA Tour. 

Heading into the final tournament of the year, Bianca’s points from the 2024 season landed her 101st in the Race to CME Globe rankings, which would have technically been enough for her to retain her LPGA card for the following year, but on a conditional status. 

But with a major event still left on the calendar, Bianca was determined to end her season on a high note. A top 100 finish would guarantee her exempt status for 2025 — and she was just outside the cutline. 

“It was a lot of pressure knowing what was at stake,” she reflects, thinking back to how she was feeling before her final competition, The Annika. So, before hitting the fairway and putting up her final performance of the year, she had to take a moment to reflect. 

“There were so many questions I was asking myself,” she shares. “I was like, ‘Okay, what do I feel when I play good golf?’ So I just tried to channel that energy and just kind of look back at the tournaments where I knew I performed well, and try to kind of have that same energy, same mindset, same focus heading into that final week…

“So I was like, you know what? We’re just going to have fun this week and we’re going to enjoy what we’re doing. Execute every shot. If it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to, it’s fine.”

Coming in with this mindset alleviated the pressure to a certain degree — which proved to be exactly what she needed after she opened The Annika with a shaky start. 

On the front nine, she shot one-over 36, which put more pressure on her back nine. But thankfully, she recovered with two birdies to notch a 33 on the back to rise up by four places, putting her in 24th place. From there, she closed out with a one-under 69, exactly what she needed to slot her into the top 20 and promote her to 92nd in the Race to CME Global final rankings — a clutch top 100 finish to secure her exempt status for next year. 

Bianca Pagdanganan closed her 2024 on a high note, and now she is back in Manila for some much-needed rest and recovery. Time with family and friends is among the most important things to her. 

Yet, even while she’s home for the holidays, she is still checking things off her list to prepare for another long year ahead. 

Inspired for what’s to come

Bianca Pagdanganan prefers to keep her goals for 2025 to herself. Of course, some of her targets are what one would easily expect from the pro golfer — “A lot more top 10s,” she says, “I want to win on tour, that’s a goal I have in mind.” But when it comes to the nitty-gritty details of what she’s aiming for in 2025, she prefers to manifest those quietly with herself. 

But put rather simply, with her LPGA Tour Card set, she looks ahead saying, “I want to be able to look back at my year and say, ‘Okay, I’ve accomplished what I wanted.’”

However, there is one particular goal that she does not shy away from. 

The GAME 2025 January Cover Story with Bianca Pagdanganan

As she gears up for another hectic year of flights, hotels, road trips all over the United States, and back-to-back tournaments, she remains grounded by a 2024 that has been so abundantly filled with reminders of why she does what she does. 

“I want to be able to represent [Filipinos],” she says with pride. “I want people to look up to me and say, ‘Hey, we have a Filipino golfer, or rather, Filipino golfers on tour. I can do that too. I can make it to the big stage and I can compete with all the other athletes

“And I think at this point, it’s not just, you know, for golf. Just having representation at an international stage, I think is really important because you want the younger generation to have someone to look up to. Because it’s hard to dream when you don’t see someone like you up there. Because you’re never going to think that it’s possible. So, that’s definitely one of the things that I try to do, you know, when I represent the Philippines.” 

Whether it’s the Asian Games, the Olympics, or the LPGA Tour, Bianca Pagdanganan has become a symbol of what is possible for Filipinos all over the world, and this will always go hand-in-hand with the other goals she is driving towards. 

Though she still has many years left in her career, this is one goal that, as far as we’re concerned, she can already check off her bucket list. Among the dozen fans who approached her at Camp Aguinaldo on that Monday morning in December was a young boy, no older than 12 years old, who asked for her autograph. 

He plays golf too, the boy’s father told us. And having someone like Bianca — who has reached the highest level, and who made her start here, at the exact same place — as a role model can already be a catalyst for anyone with a dream.


Text ANNIKA CANIZA
Photography KIERAN PUNAY of KLIQ INC.
Creative Direction CAS ASEOCHE and MARC YELLOW
Shot on Location CAMP AGUINALDO GOLF COURSE
Sittings Editor SID VENTURA
Production Coordination ANTHONY MENDOZA

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