RP golfers open bid in World Am

The Philippines opens its campaign in the Eisenhower Trophy, the men’s side of
the World Amateur Golf Team Championships, which begins Thursday with 70 teams
slugging it out for top honors at the Olivos Golf Club and Buenos Aires Golf
Club in Argentina.
Hopes are high for the team of Mhark Fernando, Dabawenyo Jhonnel Ababa and US-based Judson
Eustaquio as the troika tries to duplicate the RP ladies’ best-ever finish of
joint eighth in the Espirito Santo Trophy last week.
Dottie Ardina, Dabawenya Chihiro Ikeda and Mia Piccio pooled a four-day total of 575 as
the ICTSI-backed team shared eighth place with Germany and New Zealand, the
country’s best since the 1968 team finished ninth in Australia.
“They are ready but they had to contend not only with the talent laden field and
a tough course but also the chilly weather here,” said NGAP official and team
captain Pablo Soon.
The RP men’s squad actually turned in a pair of third-place finishes in 1984 and
2002 but has struggled in the last three stagings of the biennial event, winding
up joint 23rd in 2004, ending up 38th in 2006 and sharing 27th place the last
time in Australia on a team built around Rufino Bayron, Ferdie Aunzo and Jerson
Balasabas.
But Fernando, Ababa and Eustaquio are all-geared up for this week’s event, a
three-to-play, two-to-count format tournament spread over four days.
Ababa, in fact, hopes to cap his stint in the ranks on a high note as the
veteran internationalist has decided to turn pro after this event.
Fernando, on the other hand, will leave the ranks after the Asian Games next
month with the former national champion raring to build up momentum and boost
his confidence with a solid showing this week in time for the Guangzhou Asiad.
Eustaquio, a former Florida Amateur champion, is also out to prove his worth in
the tournament featuring the world’s leading teams, headed by defending champion
Scotland and many-time titlist United States.
The team, handled by Tommy Manotoc and whose campaign is sanctioned by the
National Golf Association of the Phils. and sponsored by ICTSI, drew a morning
tee-off time at 7:30 a.m.  with Ababa kicking off RP’s campaign at the BAGC
against Jose Rodriguez of Puerto Rico and Dutch Robin Kind.
Eustaquio is paired with Robi Calvesbert and Fernand Osther while Fernando is
set to start with Rafael Campos and Daan Huizing.(pr)

RP ladies open bid in World Am

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)