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TOP locals Anthony Fernando, Rufino Bayron, Jhonnel
Ababa and Mark Fernando spearhead 100 players seeing action in the
13th DHL-WWExpress National Amateur Golf Championships Tuesday at
the challenging north course of the Canlubang golf complex in
Laguna.
Fernando, the reigning national
champion, and company are tipped to cash in on their familiarity
with the course while the rest, including foreign bets Nicholas Fung
and Muhammad Fauzi of Malaysia and a big number of Koreans, will
rely on their talent and skills to contend for the title.
Hitting the traditional
ceremonial drives are Transportation and Communications Secretary
and NGAP President Leandro Mendoza, and Rod Feliciano, Joe Feliciano
and Dawn Feliciano of DHL, and Cangolf executive director Luigi Yulo.
Fung and Fauzi will lead the
foreign bets’ title drive in the tournament, which also features
the 54-hole ladies tournament starting Wednesday after Singapore’s
top amateur Quincy Quek begged off at the last minute to honor a
previous commitment back home.
Fil-Japanese Chihiro Ikeda and
Indon Lydia Ivana Jaya provide the other attraction as the two
talented players are fancied to clash anew for the crown after their
recent duel in the Philippine Ladies Open.
Ikeda fought back from three
strokes to turn back Ivana and capture the coveted plum with the
ICTSI team mainstay out to make it two-in-a-row over the Indonesian
ace for her second title in the early going of the season.
Joining the hunt for the ladies
crown in the tournament, the biggest outside of the national
championship, are SEA Games silver medalist Anya Tanpinco, also the
runner-up to absentee Dottie Ardina last year, Regina de Guzman and
Cyna Rodriguez, on a break from a golf scholarship by ICTSI.
Also competing are Singapore’s
Christabel Goh, Stephanie Loi, Nicole Koh and Koh Sock Hwee Chee and
Aimil Johami Bokar and Amanda Chin of Malaysia.
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