Sta. Lucia Tour final leg fires off tomorrow

MANILA, Philippines - The Sta. Lucia Golf Tour winds up its 11th staging tomorrow and Saturday at various venues with Eagle Ridge and Rancho Palos Verdes making it a two-team fight for the Club of the Year crown.

Eagle Ridge is up by just two points over Rancho Palos Verdes in the current standings, 90-88, and it’s anybody’s game as the course-hopping Tour holds two separate events forming the Manila leg – the first to be hosted by Orchard Friday and the second by Eagle Ridge on Saturday.

The Orchard schedule will see players in Groups 1, 2 and seniors teeing off at 6 a.m. and those in Group 3 starting at 12 noon at the Palmer course. The Eagle play will see simultaneous action starting at 9 a.m. for Groups 1, 2 and seniors at the Faldo layout and Group 3 at the Norman course.

Eagle bolstered its bid for a fifth overall plum by collecting 48 out of a possible 60 points in last month’s Visayas leg of the Tour at Alta Vista to erase what looked like an imposing 18-point deficit by Palos Verdes and assume solo leadership.

The Davaoeños of Palos Verdes are out to redeem themselves after managing only 28 points in Cebu, far off the amazing 60-point sweep they scored in the opening leg held at their home course. The third-running Alta Vista, meanwhile, is praying for a miracle after the two-time-defending champions fell 20 points behind.

Royale Tagaytay is fourth in the nine-team field at 60, Beverly Place is next at 54 and Summit Point 49 in the inter-club competitions also backed 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.

Orchard remained in seventh spot at 29, Lakewood eighth at 22 and Caliraya Springs last with 6 points.

For the next two days, the 200 participants of the tourney featuring clubs flying the Sta. Lucia Realty banner are vying for the leg and overall honors in both team and individual play.

Eagle won the overall title in the first two editions of the Tour in 2000-01, picked up a third in 2003 and then annexed the 2006 title. Palos Verdes, meanwhile, prevailed in 2004 and emerged champion again when the Tour went out of the country to visit Thailand in 2007.