Sta. Elena eyes three-peat in The Tradition

Sta. Elena guns for a championship three-peat under a new format but against a much bigger cast at the start of the eighth edition of The Tradition today at the hazard-laden Langer course of the Riviera Golf and Country Club in Silang, Cavite.

After pulling off close victories the past two years, Sta. Elena will be facing a tougher field in the event to be played in a four-day span in three different venues with varying characters.

The entry of Mt. Malarayat and Riviera boosts the size of the field from last year’s 10 to 12.

The new members will also be hosting the tourney. From Riviera, the battle moves to the Makulot-Lobo course of Mt. Malarayat tomorrow, then to the Legends course of Manila Southwoods on Nov. 14.

All starts will be shotgun-style starting at 8 a.m.

The size of teams has been reduced from the usual 16 to 12 with only two men’s teams and seniors. It will be a four-to-play, three-to-count format for all the three divisions with each team vying for the maximum points on offer.

The Tradition presents a unique objective in the sense that it seeks to keep the purity of the game by way of staging friendly competition that offers no monetary or big prizes for the winners. There is, however, a hole-in-one award worth P50,000.

To be awarded are the overall team champion and the runner-up as well as the individual overall low gross, the individual low net and the class champions.

The awarding ceremonies will be held at the Southwoods main clubhouse ballroom.