Ardina seeks first RP Ladies crown

MANILA, Philippines - Three-time world junior champion Dottie Ardina sets out as one of Chihiro Ikeda’s chief rivals in the Philippine Ladies Open Amateur Golf Championship as she shoots for her first Open crown starting Wednesday at the Manila Southwoods’ Legends Course in Carmona, Cavite.

Ardina, who teamed up with Ikeda and Mia Piccio to steer the RP team to the gold medal romp in last month’s SEA Games in Laos, is on an extended holiday break from her US studies and is itching to start her bid for the crown against a crack local and international field.

The 15-year-old Ardina, one of the golf scholars of the ICTSI (International Container Terminal Services, Inc.) golf program, is actually coming off an impressive campaign on the new Future Collegians World Tour (FCWT) in the US where she ruled two legs – the Naples Beach Challenge and the Champions Gate Challenge, both in Florida, late last year.

That makes her one of the players to watch in the 48th staging of the 54-hole tournament sponsored by San Miguel Corp. and Nike, together with Korean Shine Lee and Indonesia’s national team mainstay Ines Putri Chandra.

“This is one tournament I would like to win ,” said Ardina, who fell short of her title bid last year, losing to Ikeda in a final round duel and settling for joint second with Lee.

Like Ardina, Ikeda is also coming into the event, organized by the Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines, in fine form, having won eight tournaments last year, including the SEA Games individual gold.

The 18-year-old Ikeda ruled the 2007 edition of the annual event backed by De Capricho Jewelry, Baileys, Villamor Ladies Chapter, ABS-CBN, Butuan Doctor’s Hospital, Nike Park and AB Leisure Exponent Inc., Finishes First and Absolute but struggled and wound up 10th last year.

Out to foil their bid are Koreans Sun Hae Cho, Mi Yeon Kang and Mingi Kim; Singaporeans Stephanie Loi, Joey Poh and Ko Sock Hwee; Malaysians Geneveuve Ling I-Ryn, Celeste Lo, Cheryl Lo, Aretha Pan Herng, Vivienne Chin Ven Yi, Nurul Sararudin; Shannon Park and Lourdes Acuesta of the US; Sta. Elena member Gaelle Marquet of France, Cangolf members Ikuko Kito and Maki Kageyama of Japan and ICTSI team members Cyna Rodriguez, Sarah Ababa, Andie Unson, Daniella Uy, Sun Choi and Sheryll Villa cencio.

Aside from the centerpiece championship division, the tournament also features the Class A and Class B events, the composition of which will be classified on the second day.

The field will be composed of players from the country’s top clubs, including Sta. Elena, Eagle Ridge, Southwoods, Valley Golf, Orchard, Riviera, Tagaytay Highlands, Alta Vista, Forest Hills, Pueblo de Oro, Cangolf, Del Monte and Navy.