Aboitiz Invitational 2011: Biggest golf tourney in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Country Club will be hosting the biggest professional golf tournament in the Queen City of the South late next month - the Aboitiz Invitational 2011.

With a total of 126 players set to see action in this $65,000 event, this is no doubt the biggest-ever tournament of its kind here.

The event will not only have players from the Philippine Tour, but also those from the Asian Development Tour. It was launched in a press conference yesterday afternoon.

Htwe Hla Han, senior director for Tour Development of the Asian Tour, said that aside from 40 players from the Philippine Tour, there will be 86 from the ADT and the Asian Tour who would also be joining the tournament, which starts on August 31 and runs until September 3.

She said that they have already given the officers of the host club a checklist of things to be done to prepare the course for the tournament.

A pro-am event is set on August 30.

Among the things that would be done is to make the course into a par-70.

Clifford Celdran, general manager of CCC, said that they will make holes number 7 and 11, which are currently par-5s into par-42.

Frederic Chiongbian, the host club's golf director, said that they would also narrow the fairways to about 22 to 25 yards and will grow the rough to toughen the course.

Htwe also said that the greens would be made faster to make them more challenging.

She said that the ADT is the breeding ground for the rising stars. The ADT serves as the platform for the players to get into the Asian Tour.

"The top three players after eight tournaments will automatically get tour cards for the Asian Tour," she said.

Sebastian Lacson, Chief Reputation Officer of Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) said that it makes them proud to help put Cebu in the national and the regional golfing map.

AEV is based in Cebu and first sponsored the local leg of the tour last year.

Colo Ventosa, general manager of the Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc., which is running the tournament, said that they are happy to be back in Cebu.

She also said that the tour has grown to 16 tournaments all over the country and she is excited to see how our pros would match against those from the ADT.

Chiongbian, said that the club would like to give credit to AEV and Lacson for making the tournament bigger.

Cebu, according to Lacson, loves the pros so much that many of the players have so many hosts and huge galleries watch the action.

Professional players Artemio Murakami and Carl Santos-Ocampo of the Philippines and Brunei's Faiz Fakhri Damit were also on hand during the launch.

Murakami, a former winner in the Asian Tour and one of the country's top pros, said that he is looking forward to the Aboitiz Invitational.

The country's top players like Juvic Pagunsan and Frankie Miñoza are expected to join next month's event except for Angelo Que, who is scheduled to play in Switzerland, said Ventosa.

She also said that no amateurs will be allowed to play in this tournament, which offers the biggest prize among the events of the Philippine Golf Tour this year.

Only the top 50 after the second round will make the cut. 

Htwe added that the ADT players are not only from Asia, but from all over the world. - THE FREEMAN