Eagle Ridge aims to develop golf talents

While most exclusive clubs may have the sincere desire to open up their facilities to aspiring national champions and future Tigers, membership concerns often come in the way.

A 36-hole course may not already be enough for a regular 3,000-member force with at least 500 active players, much more for a club with only 18 homes. Weekend accommodations for jungolf or amateur pool training or tournaments are seldom accepted.

The Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club, the only club in the Philippines with four courses, has already made a firm commitment to the worthy cause of talent development not just for its membership and dependents but also those showing a big potential.

Former President Fidel V. Ramos, himself, took special notice of this noble objective when he recently led the inauguration of Eagle’s main sports clubhouse together with Mrs. Ming Ramos, Cavite Gov. Ayong Maliksi, Sta. Lucia Realty president Exequiel Robles, ERGCC chair Tommy Alcantara and ERGCC director Nick Alcantara.

"With its sheer size, Eagle Ridge can really become a center for talent development. The offer of Eagle to help in this cause is, indeed, a big boost to local golf," said Ramos, credited for sparking the golf boom in the 1990s.

Eagle had hosted the Philippine amateur golf championship won by Jerome Delariarte and most of the above average amateurs – punished but unbowed by the quirks of the Dye and Faldo courses – were one in saying that both require shotmaking skills.

The advantage of having four courses and three clubhouses have already made Eagle a heaven for big-scale events.

The Aoki side and the newly-opened Norman front nine are generally accepted as the friendlier layouts but have their own unique character.

Plans are already afoot for the Eagle driving range and the completion of the back nine of the Norman course.

Meanwhile, the first ever monthly medal tournament for senior members will be held on July 17 at the Aoki course. Only members 55 years and above are eligible for the event. Tee-off is 7-8 a.m.

Also, the club announced that on Mondays, Faldo and Dye are closed and only Aoki is open. On Tuesdays, Aoki is closed and both Dye and Faldo are open. All three are open the rest of the week. The Norman course is open only on Wednesday, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.