CAP-Forest Hills Classic starts

The sheer urge to play for the first time in the revival of the Philippine golf tour is enough motivation to force Gerald Rosales to defy a doctor’s advice and join his peers in the hunt for top honors in the College Assurance Plan-Forest Hills Golf Classic beginning today at the Forest Hills Golf Club in Antipolo.

Rosales, whose keenly-awaited debut in the fledgling circuit got stymied by a wrist injury last month, has been asked by his doctor to further take a rest but the reigning Philippine Open champion opted to play this week, ensuring a high-powered fight for the top P100,000 purse.

But more than the prize money, Rosales wants to test his mettle against the field, which boasts of a high level of play in the first three legs where the winning average was almost 12-under par.

The names are just all too familiar: Cassius Casas, Rodrigo Cuello, Robert Pactolerin, Danny Zarate and even one new local-based foreigner — Canadian Rick Gibson, not to mention the two of the three leg winners — Richard Sinfuego and Antonio Lascuña.

Lascuña is now the leading money winner on the tour presented by CAP, Camp John Hay Dev’t. Corp., Fil-Estate Group of Companies and Metro Rail Transit Corp. after rallying past Pactolerin and Casas to win at Sherwood Hills.

The par-71 layout at the ridges of a mountain adds up to the challenge for the men of the tour as they will need all the tricks in their bag to survive the demanding conditions of the hazard-laden layout, which is hosting a tournament of this magnitude for the first time.

Also teeing off today are the amateur invitees to the 36-hole pro-am where a luxurious 2001 Chevrolet Cassia put up by GM Automobiles Phils. through its president-GM Harold K. J. Coh is at stake as a prize for an ace on the 15th hole.

"This event will be won by the player who will hit his drive consistently and can keep his knees firm enough for four days," said Philippine Tour chair Bob Sobrepeña.

"Scoring has been very impressive for the past three legs and it just goes to show that our pros are working on their games hard enough to be able to win."

One interesting development, Sobrepeña adds, is that the underdogs have won in the past three tournaments.

The Classic will be the first major professional event to be held at Forest Hills, a 6,950-yard beauty that can become a beast with its fairways lined by hazards and ravines and elevated greens most of which are well-bunkered.

The finishing hole of Forest Hills designed by the Golden Bear Design of the legendary Jack Nicklaus is a rarity in the local golfing scene: a donut-shaped green with a sand trap right in the middle.