Montecillo Cup gets sanction from R&A

MANILA, Philippines –  The Royal&Ancient in St. Andrews, Scotland has officially recognized next week’s inaugural edition of The Montecillo Cup Junior Golf Team Championship at Mt. Malarayat, making it one of Asia’s top junior events.

The big news of the R&A sanction for the event slated March 8-11 was coursed through the National Golf Association of the Philippines, local golf’s governing body, according to the Junior Golf Foundation of the Philippines.

The R&A sanction means that participants of the competition coming from six countries in Asia and the Pacific will be receiving points based on their results for the R&A world amateur rankings.

“It (R&A sanction) means a lot to us, we’re definitely honored. We shall now work even harder to make sure that we live up to the high standards of that sanction,” said Luigi Tabuena, president of the JGFP.

Sponsoring the event are the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), Pancake House, Chevrolet, Sizzlin Pepper, Teriyaki Boy, Philippine Airlines, Friends of Jungolf, Golf Depot, San Miguel Beer, Coca Cola Bottlers, Duty Free, PacSports, MJ Carr Golf Management, Pisanti Golf, livescoreph.com, Julies, McDonald’s, Ishields. Inquirer Golf and A Round of Golf.

Joining the teams from the Philippines are the leading junior players from Bangladesh, Chinese-Taipei, Thailand, Singapore and Guam.

Asian Games silver medalist Miguel Tabuena and reigning national amateur champion Clyde Mondilla head the Philippine campaign. The other members of the boys team are Jobim Carlos, Rupert Zaragosa, Gio Gandionco, Kenneth Kano, JP De Claro and Jonar Austria while the girls team is made up of Andie Unson, Sarah Jane Ababa, Irina Gabasa, Princess Superal, Daniella Uy and Sheryl Villacencio.

The eight boys and six girls will be broken up into two teams per division for the 72-hole four-to-play, three-to-count boys event and the 54-hole three-to-play, two-to-count girls format.

For inquiries: Call up Hazel, JGFP at 893-9599 or 0917-8841436.