A power-packed cast headed by the cream of the country’s pro crop, three of the leading players on the LPGA of Taiwan (TLPGA) and a crack Thailand crew, gears up for a fierce showdown in the ICTSI Manila Golf Ladies Classic beginning Wednesday, April 10 at the Manila Golf Club inside the posh Forbes Park.
Reigning Ladies Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit champion Princess Superal hopes to flaunt her shotmaking skills on a course that suits her standards as she spearheads the locals’ title drive in the 54-hole championship serving as the seventh leg of the LPGT’s seventh season and the fifth stop of this year’s TLPGA.
She will be joined by 2017 OOM winner Pauline del Rosario, fellow Symetra Tour campaigners Mia Piccio and Cyna Rodriguez, multi-titled Chihiro Ikeda, Daniella Uy, Marvi Monsalve, Alex Etter and Gretchen Villacencio, all upbeat of their chances at the relatively flat but tight par-71 layout hosting an LPGT/TLPGA event for the first time.
But the locals will be in for a tough challenge with No. 3 Babe Liu and joint No. 5 Lin Tzu-Chi and Hsin Lee bannering the 25-strong Taiwanese side that also includes former LPGT/TLPGA leg winner Ching Huang, Chen Hsuan, Chen Meng-Chu, Tsai Hsin-En, Yu Pei-Lin and Shih Chen-Hsuan.
Thailand also boasts of a slew of aces ready to cash in on their winning run in the circuit put up by ICTSI and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc., led by Thanutra Boonraksasat, who outdueled Superal to win by one in the last LPGT event at Manila Southwoods last month, and many-time champion Yupaporn Kawinpakorn.
Others tipped to contend in the $100,000 event, sanctioned by TLPGA and backed by Custom Clubmakers, Meralco, K&G Golf Apparel, BDO, Sharp, KZG, PLDT, Empire Golf and Sports and M.Y. Shokai Technology, Inc., are LPGT leg winners Onkanok Soisuwan, Supakchaya Pattaranakrueang and Wannasiri Sirisampant along with Chatprapa Siriprakob, Saraporn Chamchoi and Ornnicha Konsunthea.
Japanese Yui Noritomi, Sarah Yamaki, Airi Tsujioka, Mina Nakayama, Mika Yamashita, Mayumi Chinzei, Wakana Kinjo, Yoshimi Tamura, Mayuna Furukawa, Ami Sonodo, Mimori Shii, Minami Oshiro, Aya Ishikawa and Ayano Mochizuki along with Isabella Leung of Hong Kong, Singapore’s Amelia Yong and Sock Hwee Koh and Malaysia’s Genevieve Ling are also among the early favorites in one of the strongest casts assembled in the circuit.”‹