Nationals open bid in World Am

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines opens its campaign in the Eisenhower Trophy, the men’s side of the World Amateur Golf Team Championships, which begins Thursday with 70 teams slugging it out for top honors at the Olivos Golf Club and Buenos Aires Golf Club in Argentina.

Hopes are high for the team of Mhark Fernando, Jhonnel Ababa and US-based Judson Eustaquio as the troika tries to duplicate the RP ladies’ best-ever finish of joint eighth in the Espirito Santo Trophy last week.

Dottie Ardina, Chihiro Ikeda and Mia Piccio pooled a four-day total of 575 as the ICTSI-backed team shared eighth place with Germany and New Zealand, the country’s best since the 1968 team finished ninth in Australia.

“They are ready but they had to contend not only with the talent-laden field and a tough course but also the chilly weather here,” said NGAP official and team captain Pablo Soon.

The RP men’s squad actually turned in a pair of third-place finishes in 1984 and 2002 but has struggled in the last three stagings of the biennial event, winding up joint 23rd in 2004, ending up 38th in 2006 and sharing 27th place the last time in Australia on a team built around Rufino Bayron, Ferdie Aunzo and Jerson Balasabas.

But Fernando, Ababa and Eustaquio are all-geared up for this week’s event, a three-to-play, two-to-count format tournament spread over four days.

Ababa, in fact, hopes to cap his stint in the ranks on a high note as the veteran internationalist has decided to turn pro after this event.

Fernando, on the other hand, will leave the ranks after the Asian Games next month with the former national champion raring to build up momentum and boost his confidence with a solid showing this week in time for the Guangzhou Asiad.

Eustaquio, a former Florida Amateur champion, is also out to prove his worth in the tournament featuring the world’s leading teams, headed by defending champion Scotland and many-time titlist United States.