The Philippines Ladies Open braces for another explosive staging next year with a stellar international cast tipped to clash for top honors on Feb. 18-20 at the Manila Golf Club in Forbes Park in Makati City.
Top and rising players from Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, Japan and the US are expected to crowd the country’s leading shotmakers in the 54-hole championship, eager to end the locals’ domination of the event organized and conducted by the Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines.
After the Thais posted an imposing 1-2 finish through Pimnipa Panthong and Kanyalak Preedasutthjit in the 2015 PLO at Wack Wack, the Filipina aces ruled the next four editions with Princess Superal winning in 2016 at Tagaytay Midlands, Bianca Pagdanganan scoring a record win in 2017, also at Wack Wack, before Yuka Saso swept the last two at Orchard and Manila Golf Club.
Meanwhile, registration is ongoing with fee pegged at P10,000 for local participants and $300 for foreign entries, inclusive of one practice round with organizers also targeting to draw Class A and B players. For details/reservations, email to [email protected] or [email protected]. Entry forms can also be downloaded at www.wgap-golf.com.
Saso and Pagdanganan, along with Lois Kaye Go, won the team gold in the Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018 with Saso bagging the individual crown, a first in PLO history with the event serving as a venue for the young Filipina players to compete with other top golfers from across Asia and elsewhere.
Pagdanganan also won the individual gold in the recent SEA Games and led the squad of Go and Abby Arevalo to the team championship, besting the country’s perennial rival Thailand.
But Superal has since moved to the pros while Pagdanganan and Saso are set to launch their pro debuts next year in different circuits abroad, leaving the likes of Junia Gabasa and young Rianne Malixi and Eagle Ace Superal as the likely spearheads of the host nation in the upcoming Phl Ladies Open.