Rancho Palos Verdes hosts Sta. Lucia Tour kick-off leg

MANILA, Philippines - In a series where quality counts more than quantity, teams big in size like Eagle Ridge and Alta Vista will face a tough challenge from lean-but-mean squads when the Sta. Lucia Golf Tour kicks off this Friday, at the Rancho Palos Verdes Golf and Country Club in Davao.

Eagle Ridge and Alta Vista, which have shared seven of the last nine overall titles disputed, are fielding the most number of entries with 40 and 38, respectively, in the 10th edition of the island-hopping circuit for members of clubs developed and operated by Sta. Lucia Realty.

But host Rancho Palos Verdes, twice the overall winner in 2004 and 2007, is eyeing another strong finish this year and so is Royale Tagaytay’s 32-strong contingent. Orchard (14), Summit Point of Batangas (14) and Lakewood of Cabanatuan (10) are out to pull surprises.

Beverly Place of Pampanga is fielding 10 players in its debut while Lake Caliraya Springs is sending six in the series sponsored by Hyundai, Autohub, Wilson, LG Electronics and Philippine Airlines. Marriott-Cebu, Marco Polo Hotel-Davao and Bellevue Manila are the official hotels.

With less than a week before blast off, golfers from Luzon and Visayas are getting ready for the trip to Davao where the first of four leg titles will be disputed via 36 holes.

Participants will bid to produce points for their respective clubs in the race for the Club of the Year which Alta Vista of Cebu will try to successfully defend.

The best pair from each club per handicap grouping will count for the overall race.

From Palos Verdes, the series goes to Alta Vista for the Visayas stop on Oct. 2-3.

Summit Point will make its debut as a Tour host this season. The Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed course serves as one of the two venues, the other being Eagle Ridge, for the culminating Luzon leg Nov. 6-7.

As one of the biggest marketing projects of Sta. Lucia, the participation of all 200 players is subsidized, including plane fares, stays in five-star hotels, giveways, meals and raffles. In 2008, the entire 200-player entourage flew to Bangkok, Thailand for an international edition of the Tour.