P1.2-M staked in U-Bix Pro-Am

The third U-Bix-Riviera Pro-Am Golf Championship will increase its pot from P1 million to P1.2 million this year, chief sponsor Bert Bravo announced yesterday.

The tournament is set on Nov. 18-22 at the Langer Course of the Riviera Golf & Country Club in Silang, Cavite.

Organizers have limited the entry this year to 110 teams in the one-ball, twosome tournament that will stake a Toyota car in the Celebrity event on Nov. 18 and another Toyota vehicle during the four-day championship.

The tournament, sponsored chiefly by U-Bix Corporation, is organized by the National Golf Association of the Philippines headed by Rod Feliciano.

"It’s time once more to put both our pros and top amateurs on the pedestal as they engage in friendly competition in the sport we all love," said Bravo, who revived this cherished tradition in 2001 when it got bumped off due to the closure of Fort Bonifacio, home of the Pro-Am since its inception in 1956.

Noli Kempis and amateur Erwin Vinluan won the tournament’s revival in 2001 at Langer. Last year, Raul and Paul Miñoza prevailed at the Couples course.