FILE–Cassius Casas.–INQUIRER GOLF
MANILA, Philippines – The local golf world will continue to mourn after the loss of another great former national team member and professional in Felix “Cassius” Casas on Sunday night in Davao. He would have been 58 years old on November 28.
Just two days after the death of another former Philippine team spearhead, Alex Prieto, Casas succumbed to heart failure at Davao Doctors before the midnight strike on Sunday, with his common-law wife Joy at his bedside.
Article continues after this ad
“He left peacefully,” Fredo Casiao, a professional teacher at Manila Southwoods who is married to Casas’ favorite niece, Christina, told the Inquirer in Filipino on Monday. “He even ate his favorite meals in his last two days. As if he knew something.
READ: PH Masters returns Wednesday; Favorite houses
Born and raised in Davao and learning the game at Apo Golf, where some of the country’s top talents came from, Casas started working at a young age as a caddy at the tree-lined course. He would become friends with Bong Lopez, and the duo would later lead Philippine teams to Putra Cup and Southeast Asian Games gold medals before Casas dominated the lucrative local professional scene.
“He was the most brash and confident player I’ve ever seen and played with,” Lopez said in a separate interview. “Because he knew he had the game to back up his speech.
Article continues after this ad
“I will never forget a Putra Cup tournament where we were leading by one (shot) and he was the last player on the course to play the last hole,” Lopez said.
“He launched himself as he approached a bunker, in a difficult situation, before asking me what the score was,” he said. “I told him it was just one of us. After hearing this, and despite the tough shot he was facing, he told me “champion na tayo”. “He hit his shot less than a foot from the cup and the team celebrated.”
Casiao and Casas were also very close, as the 2001 PH Open and two-time PH Masters champion had a liking for Casiao’s wife, daughter of his older sister Angelica.
“He considered my wife his adopted daughter,” said Casiao, who is preparing to return to Davao to pay his last respects to Casas. “And that’s why we loved him so much that even though we are here (in Cavite), we make it our duty to take care of him there.”
READ: Felix ‘Cassius’ Casas paces players’ tilt
Casas underwent open-heart surgery seven years ago and opted for a quiet life by the sea in Davao Oriental, about four hours from the city where he grew up.
“But we received a call from him three days ago, asking us to pick him up so he could stay with us,” Casiao said. “He said he was having trouble breathing.”
While at the Casiao home, Casas asked for pancit (rice noodles) before being taken to the hospital. Before his check-up, he even enjoyed his favorite McDonald’s sandwich.
Cassius was part of a brood of six that had four boys, and all the boys have now died due to heart failure, Casiao said.
“His older brother died earlier this year and I think he was only 61,” Casiao said. “The youngest boy, Renegade, also a former pro, died before he was 40, I think.”
Support has poured in for Cassius, such as when he underwent heart surgery in 2017, as longtime Southwood friends Dr. Andrew Pineda and Eu Puyat led a campaign to ensure golf’s national treasure would have a decent burial.
Even Southwoods, with whom he played during his professional career, has been at the forefront of helping the fallen greats.
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription was successful.
“The family thanks Cassius and Southwoods friends,” Casiao said. “The family is grateful because Cassius will get the burial he deserves.” INQ
