Wide-open title race looms in ICTSI Summit Point
LIPA CITY, Batangas – Justin Quiban is back, Angelo Que is hungry for another title, and a host of power hitters and young guns are primed to make their move.
With the Philippine Golf Tour’s first four legs producing three one-stroke finishes, another breakneck battle looms as the ICTSI Summit Point Championship gets going Tuesday, September 8, at the Summit Point Golf and Country Club here.
Quiban returns to the local circuit after a stint overseas, where he continued to sharpen his game following his stirring come-from-behind victory at Lakewood in the season’s opening leg. Que, meanwhile, is out to build on his clutch performance at Caliraya Springs, where he scrambled his way to a dramatic last-hole escape over fellow veteran Tony Lascuña.
And with Lloyd Go, winner of the last two legs at Pinewoods and Pradera Verde, opting to compete abroad in pursuit of added experience and game enhancement, the title chase has been thrown even wider open.
The stage is therefore set for another highly charged four-day shootout, with established stars, emerging talents and a growing band of contenders all capable of seizing the slightest opening.
Summit Point should provide the perfect test.
The course has held its own despite the recent mix of sun and rain, and while its well-maintained layout may look inviting, it can quickly turn daunting when approached without discipline. Softer fairways could encourage the Tour’s big hitters to attack more aggressively, but knowing when to unleash the power – and when to throttle back — could prove just as important.
The course rewards boldness, but it also exacts a price for even the slightest lapse in judgment.
Keanu Jahns leads the power-hitting charge, arriving with renewed confidence after a respectable finish in a rare Asian Development Tour event last month. The Filipino-German, a four-time PGT leg winner who capped last season with the Match Play Championship, has been knocking on the door again and feels it is time to reclaim the spotlight.
Jahns opened the season with a third-place finish at Lakewood, followed it with sixth at Caliraya Springs, stumbled to joint 28th at Pinewoods, then bounced back with another third-place showing at Pradera Verde. He now hopes to turn that roller-coaster run into another victory at Summit Point.
Sean Ramos likewise enters the week with title aspirations. The young standout, who broke through for his first PGT victory in 2024, has spent the last two months competing overseas, further honing a game that increasingly looks ready for another championship run in the P2.5-million event organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc.
He is only one of a talented crop of young players determined to break through.
Carl Corpus has another PGT title firmly in his sights after claiming the Valley Golf leg last year. With the Asian Games looming later this month, Corpus is also using the event as an important competitive tune-up, seeking to find his rhythm early and build the form and confidence needed for the daunting Asiad challenge.
Aidric Chan brings a similar sense of purpose. The former national amateur standout has already secured his first professional victory on the ADT and is now chasing his maiden PGT triumph. Jeffren Lumbo and Russell Bautista are likewise expected to figure prominently in the mix.
But while the young guns bring hunger and momentum, Summit Point’s demanding conditions could tilt the balance toward experience.
That makes the presence of multi-titled campaigners Guido van der Valk, Rupert Zaragosa, Reymon Zaragosa, Jhonnel Ababa, Zanieboy Gialon, Michael Bibat, Jay Bayron and Lascuña all the more significant. Each knows how quickly a tournament can turn and, more importantly, when to press and when to protect a score.
The foreign contingent is equally determined to make its mark.
Korean Taewon Ha, who narrowly missed out at Lakewood, headlines the overseas challenge and returns with another opportunity to break through. Fellow Koreans Kim Tae Soo and Jisung Cheon, as well as Lee Song, are also in the hunt, alongside Japan’s Kashihara Hirotaka, Sena Shiraishi and Nagata Masaki.
With Go absent and no shortage of players carrying either momentum, unfinished business or a larger goal into the week, the Summit Point championship promises another wide-open affair.
The numbers already point to a tight battle. The course could make it even tighter.
And if the first four legs are any indication, expect the championship to be decided by the finest of margins.
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