Sta. Lucia Tour second leg fires off at Alta Vista

CEBU, Philippines – Rancho Palos Verdes hopes to pile up more points in a bid to keep its hold of the overall lead as the Visayas leg of the 11th Sta. Lucia Golf Tour gets going today at the Alta Vista Golf and Country Club in Cebu here.

After a stunning sweep of all team and individual awards in the Mindanao kick-off stage it hosted last month, Rancho Palos Verdes found itself in solid command over its two chief rivals with a perfect 60-point total in the team race.

That overpowering performance put the Davaoeños 18 points up on Eagle Ridge and 20 ahead of Alta Vista, the host club seeking a third straight overall plum in the course-hopping series featuring clubs flying the Sta. Lucia Realty banner.

Eagle Ridge and Alta Vista both need a strong showing in this leg to prevent Palos Verdes from pulling away farther in the race for the Sta. Lucia Cup.

The Sta. Lucia Tour is a three-stage series supported by LG Electronics, Philippine Airlines, RizGolf, Dynamic Sports and Leisure Corp. and Master Sports Corp. The official hotels are Marco Polo (Davao), Marriot (Cebu) and Mandarin Oriental.

The Palos Verdes contingent goes into the leg with its members in high spirits after becoming the first club ever to score an unprecedented sweep of all team and individual awards disputed. Aside from topping the four team divisions, Davaoeños also cleaned up the four individual titles disputed over 36 holes.

Alta Vista is hardpressed to duplicate its domination of the previous Visayas legs with a decimated lineup. After topping the 2003 and 2005 editions, Alta Vista ended a slump by ruling the last two editions. Eagle Ridge prevailed in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2006 while Palos Verdes triumphed in 2004 and 2007.

From Cebu, the Sta. Lucia Tour ends with the Luzon stop to be co-hosted by Orchard and Eagle Ridge on Nov. 2-6.