Co-host Cebu Country Club hopes to use it home advantage to the fullest as the 68th Philippine Airlines (PAL) Interclub tees off Wednesday at CCC and the Club Filipino Incorporada de Cebu course in Danao City.
Teams in the premiere Championship Division will be playing their first round in Danao City together with the teams from the third-ranked Sportswriters Division.
Teams from the second-ranked Founders Division, where three Cebu teams are grouped, as well as those from the Friendship Division will play at Cebu Country Club in the first round.
Defending champion Orchard has been picked as the team to beat in this four-day event that allows a team to field five players every round with only the four best scores to count for the team total.
The tournament uses the Stableford or PAL Points Scoring System. This translates to six points for a double-eagle, five for an ace, four for eagle, three for birdie, two for par, and one for bogey.
Cebu Country Club, which lost its bid for a three straight titles in Bacolod last year, hopes to use course familiarity as an advantage.
The team will be composed of skipper Montito Garcia, Bayani Garcia, teenager Gen Nagai, lawyer Jovi Neri, Marko Sarmiento, ex-pro Mark Dy, Kiyofumi Takahashi, Harvey Sytiongsa, ex-pro Carl Almario, and Eric Deen.
Aside from Orchard and CCC, Del Monte of Bukidnon is also considered one of the top contenders for the title.
In the Founders class, Alta Vista Golf and Country Club is seeded fourth behind Alabang, Negros and Apo.
Alta Vista will be manned by skipper Enrico Solon, Victor Gocela, Jun Zambo, Gabriel Yap, Jr., Anton Pastoriza, Andrew Ahn, Aris Mata, Marvin Mendoza and teenage brothers Weiwei and Weiyu Gao.
Club Filipino is seeded 14th while Mactan Island Golf Club is 16th based on the PAL Points Average of its team members.
Club Filipino will be manned by Evans Tumaliwan, Teddy Almario, Jufil Sato, Fernando Mondares, lawyer Raymond Garcia, Baltaire Balangauan, lawyer Nilo Seno, Razy Razon, Dominic Gotiong, and Peter Militante.
Mactan will be composed of Oscar Cornelio, Elvis Jequinto, Gerry Catindoy, Kim Agatep, Pio Barandog, lawyer Marlo Cugtas, Armand Guangko, Cho Sam Ho, Emmanuel Makalintal, and Retired General Bam Jamorabo.
Hotel H20, Travelife, Boeing International Corp., Business Mirror and GE Aviation are sponsoring the PAL Interclub Seniors and Regular Men’s events. Other backers include Mareco Broadcasting Network (Crossover), People Asia Magazine, Whealth Inc., Aerospace, Uniglobe Travelware Co. Inc., Tanduay Distillers and Intercontinental Manila.
Meanwhile, in the Media Tournament played at Alta Vista Golf and Country Club on Monday and Tuesday, www.fullpoint cebu.com editor Nimrod NL Quiñones, who also writes for Inquirer Golf Magazine, ran away with the title with a two-day total of net 139 strokes on rounds of 69 and 70. Second place went to Rey Fortaleza of Vancouver with 155 (79-76) followed by Davao’s Imee Garcia on third with 158 (77-81).
The media tournament is one of the sidelights of the annual tournament participated in by the men and women covering the tournament.
