Top pros test tricky Club Filipino layout

MANILA, Philippines — The men of the tour brace for a duel of iron play but the long hitters could still opt to take the risk to fuel each other’s drive in the ICTSI Club Filipino de Cebu Invitational golf tournament beginning tomorrow in Danao City.

Short by the pros’ standards, the par-71, 6,692-yard CFdC course is expected to challenge the field’s skills, particularly in iron play and course management with its unpredictable surface also tipped to add up to the challenges that abound around the layout carved from steep hills.

It also features dog-leg holes that could lure the power hitters to go for the greens in a bid to gain ground against the rest of the bidders in the P3 million event kicking off a four-leg Visayas swing of the Philippine Golf Tour’s milestone 10th season.

Jhonnel Ababa topped the inaugural CFdC Invitational last year September although the diminutive Davaoeño shotmaker did it via the short route, winning it in 54 holes after heavy rain cancelled  play.

But with forecast of an overall good weather for the week, the 79-player cast headed by the country’s top guns, a host of foreign aces and six invitees brace for four days of battle and a wild finish in the event sponsored by ICTSI.