Philippine Open tees up for big comeback

MANILA, Philippines - After being shelved this year, the Philippine Open sets out for a grand comeback in 2017 with an elite cast of local aces led by Miguel Tabuena and Frankie Miñoza and a crack international field clashing for top honors.

Tabuena ruled the 2015 edition and expressed eagerness to plunge into action again to gun for a repeat in the country’s premier golf championship slated March 2-5 at the newly refurbished The Country Club in Laguna with a new sponsor and chief backer in Solaire Resort and Casino.

“I’m sure the pros will have a blast playing in The County Club and I can’t wait till next year. I’ll make sure I’m ready to defend my trophy,” said Tabuena, who won the last Philippine Open, his first, in 2015 at Luisita.

Two-time winner Miñoza also vowed to contend for the title in the $350,000 tournament.

“I will give a challenge in the 2017 Philippine Open,” said the veteran shotmaker and former Asia’s No. 1

Tabuena and Miñoza graced the press launch of the 99th edition of the Open yesterday at Solaire, joining Colo Ventosa, general manager of the organizing Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc., Gigi Montinola, chairman of the National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) and COO Thomas Arasi of Solaire.

In the same press con, they announced NGAPs’ two-year partnership with the PGT and Solaire for the staging of both the 2017 event and the Centennial tournament in 2018.

“The Philippine Open, with its great lore and history, will always be one of our premier golfing events and we are honored to be the title sponsor and chief backer of the Open that has lured the best and the brightest not only from the region but also from other parts of the world,” Enrique Razon Jr., chairman of Solaire operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp., PGTI, and port operator International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) said in a statement.

“We are proud to remain at the heart of the historic moments of Asia’s oldest National Open and we will continue to support Philippine golf in our commitment and desire to produce world-class players, not only in the men’s ranks but also in the ladies’ side,” added Razon.

The 2017 Open won’t be part of the Asian Tour but PGTI expects an elite field.

“During that period, there’s no Asian Tour tournament and what we do, we have our ADT (Asian Development Tour) here and international players are always lining up. I believe for the Solaire Open, they will be here for the tournament and I know players will also be inviting their friends. So without a doubt, we know we’ll fill this Open with international players as well as our local players,” said Ventosa.

The changes at The Country Club’s course will also put the competitors to a test.

“It’s a very challenging course,” said Ventosa, saying the yardage for the championship tees has been lengthened to 7,652.

Meanwhile, the TCC, which underwent a major facelift the past year, is expected to provide a true test of golf for the competing field with no distinct advantage among foreign aces and their local counterparts.

It could also be a survival of the fittest what with the terrors lurking on its sleek putting surface, unsettling water hazards and deep roughs not to mention the dreaded wind that alter the character of the holes in an instant.

These elements will surely make the TCC tougher and the battle for top honors fiercer in the storied Open that has produced many worthy champions, including Australia’s Peter Thomson, Lu Lian-huang and Hsieh Min-nan of Chinese Taipei, Mardan Mamat of Singapore and local stars Miñoza, Que, Larry Montes, Celestino Tugot, Ben Arda and Luis “Golem” Silverio, who won as an amateur in 1966.