The Philippines hopes to come out strong despite drawing a late morning tee-off
in the first two rounds of the Espirito Santo Trophy which gets under way
Wednesday (Oct. 20) at the Olivos Golf Club and Buenos Aires Golf Club in
Argentina.
Dabawenya Chihiro Ikeda, Dottie Ardina and Mia Piccio set out at the 10:40 a.m. flight at
the Olivos layout, raring to slug it out with rivals from South Africa and
Latvia and the 50 other nations competing in the ladies side of the World
Amateur Golf Championship.
“The roughs are thick so it is imperative for the girls to hit it straight,”
said RP and ICTSI team coach Bong Lopez, confident of her wards’ chances against
the best in the world in the three-to-play, two-to-count format event.
The Philippines placed 19th in the last staging of the biennial event in
Australia, ahead of SEA Games rivals Thailand (21st), Malaysia (37th) and
Singapore (42nd), with Ikeda then teaming up with Anya Tanpinco and former RP
Ladies Open champion and now Belgium-based Louise Manalo.
This time, Lopez said RP’s chances for a top 10 finish looks good with the
ICTSI-backed RP ladies, one of the earliest teams to arrive in this second
largest South American country, ready to tackle the field and the two courses
characterized by thick roughs, tight dog-legs and fast greens.
“Emphasis will also be on the iron play and putting since the greens are so fast
you have to put your approach shots on the right slopes,” said Lopez.
Ikeda, the reigning SEA Games individual champion, and the US-based Ardina and
Piccio had the luxury of familiarizing themselves with the two layouts for four
days although the troika found both courses tough, especially if the wind come
into play.
The RP ladies tee off at 11:50 a.m. at the Buenos Aires layout in the second
round with Belgium and Colombia.
Sweden romped off with a 12-shot win over Spain in 2008 and is one of teams
again tipped to vie for the championship that drew 53 nations, topping the
previous high of 48 in Puerto Rico in 2004 and Australia two years ago.
The men’s side of the event, the Eisenhower Cup, will be played Oct. 27-30 with
the Philippines to be bannered by Mhark Fernando, Jerson Balasabas and US-based
Judson Eustaquio.
The men’s team, then led by now pros and Dabawenyos Ferdie Aunzo and Rufino Bayron and
Balasabas, finished tied for 27th with Austria and Iceland with Scotland beating
the fancied United States by nine strokes to win the crown.(pr)
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