Tour winners lead the cast in southern swing

The Visayas swing of the First Gentleman’s Professional Golf Circuit kicks off next week at the Sta. Barbara Golf Club in Iloilo with no less than the first three winners in the young season – Antonio Lascuna, Richard Sinfuego and Cassius Casas – leading the cast.

The Iloilo leg of the revived tour bankrolled by the First Gentleman’s Foundation, Inc. of Atty. Mike Arroyo with the full support of San Miguel Beer, WG&A Super Ferry and media partners DWQZ/DWIZ will mark the return to the south of the local pros after almost two years.

Arroyo has also asked the organizing Federation of Golf Clubs (Phils.) Inc. to make the most of the San Miguel sponsorship boost by scaling down the money winners from 25 in the first three legs to the best 40 and ties starting in Iloilo which is set on Nov. 27-30.

The new prize scale has increased the prize money for the remaining nine legs and two more in the planning stages from P500,000 to P600,000.

"The increase in prize money will serve as an added inspirational boost for our local pros who have been working very hard to improve on their games since the start of the circuit," said Comelec chair Ben Abalos, who is also commissioner of the Professional Golfers Association of the Philippines.

Also in the Visayan swing are legs at the Negros Occidental Golf Club on Dec. 3-6 and the Cebu Country Club on Dec. 10-13. There will be three more legs in Mindanao early next year before the tour heads back to Luzon.

Lascuna, winner of the opening leg at Sta. Elena, is leading the money list with winnings of P138,000 while Sinfuego, who won the third stop at Canlubang north, is not too far behind with his P137,250.