Ladies Philippine Golf Tour campaigners Marvi Monsalve, Chihiro Ikeda, Gretchen Villacencio, Daniella Uy and Alex Etter get the chance to slug it out with the men of the tour, all hoping to draw the best from their respective amateur partners in the Delimondo National Pro-Am unfolding tomorrow (Thursday, May 9) at Splendido Taal Golf Club in Laurel, Batangas
Monsalve, who tied for 13th last year with amateur standout Mikha Fortuna, has tapped a new partner in Laia Barro, one of the mainstays of Team The Country Club, while Ikeda has linked up with top amateur Josh Jorge, and Villacencio will now team up with Roger Dale in the 54-hole tournament sponsored by Delimondo.
Uy and Etter, on the other hand, try to anchor a team for the first time with the former, a one-time Junior World champion, launching her bid with brother Lanz, and the latter, who as an amateur placed second last year in a tandem with Jet Mathay, now pins her hopes with Joey Solis in the tournament put up by ICTSI to likewise showcase the amateurs’ talent and skills and help prepare them for the big league.
While the male pros will use the black tee markers, the lady pros will tee off from the white tees.
That should make the P2.7 million event doubly interesting with the rolling, wind-swept and hazard-laden layout providing a true test for the 106-team field under the alternate shot format.
The top 40 teams after 36 holes of stroke play will advance to the final round with the pro champion set to pocket P500,000 and the amateur winner to receive merchandise and gifts. For details, call Jocelyn Duque at 0918-9515308 or at jocelynduque@pgt.ph.
The lady pros should come into the event in top form, having competed in a series of tournaments in the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour with Uy placing second, Ikeda finishing joint fifth and Monsalve ending up seventh in the Royal Northwoods Classic two weeks ago.
But they will be up against the leading campaigners in the PGT, headed multi-titled Jhonnel Ababa, Jay Bayron, Zanieboy Gialon, Tony Lascuña and Elmer Salvador. Ababa will team up with Bobby Iñigo, Bayron with Mon Salazar, Gialon with Ian Dagatan, Lascuña with Moulay Rhounimi, and Salvador with Oliver Gan.
Tonlits Asistio and Judson Eustaquio, meanwhile, seek to reclaim the crown they won in 2017 but yielded with a joint ninth place finish last year won by the absentee tandem of Jobim Carlos and DJ Padilla.
Meanwhile, at least six lady amateurs are also vying in the event, including Annyka Cayabyab, who will play alongside Nico Evangelista, Mariel Tee (with Cookie La’O), Marianne Bustos (with James Ryan Lam), Bernice Olivarez-Ilas (with Rafael Parra), Nicole Abelar (with Marcos Pastor) and Sunshine Zhang (with Dino Villanueva).