CAGAYAN DE ORO - They're tapping the new and the old of the best in venues this part of Mindanao to provide a true test of golf this week for the very elite of the country's amateur golf - the young and the seasoned - in the 53rd PAL Interclub team championship here.
Del Monte, built in 1928 atop Bukidnon's famous plateaus, and the brand-new Pueblo de Oro, a creation of the famous Robert Trent Jones, Jr., on a once pasture land at the outskirt of the city, will be the stage of this unofficial national team championship where a three-team shootout is expected over the weekend.
Defending champion Southwoods, whose victory in Davao last year it regarded as its "coming-in" party although its powerhouse rivals were not in the fold, hopes to win this one to show it has truly come of age.
That's the kind of recognition it has to gain in four days of action as eight-time champion Canlubang and Luisita have not only returned but reported with rosters teeming with talents.
"This is the real test. We will try our best because it is an entirely new ballgame but it will be difficult. Mabigat ang laban," said Southwoods skipper Thirdy Escaño.
But the reigning champs appear pretty solid in team make-up with a concentration of the best of the youth brigade and they hope to field them against the time-tested combine of age and experience which Canlubang and Luisita have thrived on in the past.
Southwoods has national amateur titlist Artemio Murakami, national players Cookie La'O and Juami Rocha, young guns Jerome Delariarte, Chuchu Martinez, Hanson So, Jr., Jun Jun Plana, veterans Montito Garcia and Minieng Maravilla and 16-year-old Lyndon Barril, once based in Washington.
The Canlubang Sweeties, who first won 23 years ago, has an equally-vibrant lineup that included a resurgent Tommy Manotoc, Mari Hechanova, Rolly Viray, Juvic Pagunsan, Abe Rosal, Ruperto Zaragosa, Jr., Jun Bernis, Solomon Gines, Jun Cedo and recalled Mike Preysler from Costa del Sol in Spain.
And the Luisitans, whose youth program came to fruition with three straight titles from 1991, came back from a year's absence with new faces to fill in the void left in the team by newly-minted pro Gerald Rosales. The newcomers are ex-pro Tom Concon and Raymond Sangil. There were also reports that American Tom Culligan, RP seniors and PAL Mabuhay champ, was in the team.
The mainstays are Iggy Clavecilla, Richie Garcia, Francis Gaston, Angelo Que, jungolfer JR Tanpinco, Louie Dakudao, Jojo Guingona and Jinky Tuason.
And yet the fight for 53rd PAL Interclub may not be confined to these three traditional rivals since Del Monte looms as a darkhorse with a team built around three brothers of Filipino top shotmaker Frankie Miñoza and Del Monte chairman Cito Lorenzo.