Top seniors vie in Southwoods invitational

MANILA, Philippines - Some of the country’s leading golfing seniors take the spotlight next week as they clash for top honors in the third Manila Southwoods Seniors Invitational Tournament slated March 15 and 17 at the Masters and Legends courses of the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club in Carmona, Cavite.

Korean Park Byoung Hee and partner Bob Apalit are expected to be back to defend the Group I crown they won last year in the 36-hole, two-man team event along with Group 2 winners Mizuho Uchida and Fujio Fujii and the George Alfonso-Cesar Castro tandem, which ran away with the Group 3 diadem.

Organizers of the event hope to lure 60 to 70 teams this year with each squad to be composed of a senior chapter member and his guest 55 years old and above.

A Yamaha golf cart, courtesy of Kart Plaza, will be staked as hole-in-one prize in the two-day event to be played under the Molave scoring system (gross) with one point awarded to double-bogey, two points for bogey, three points for par, four for birdie and five for an eagle. An ace is worth six points and a double-eagle seven points.

All par 3’s offers one brand new Yamaha golf cart for ace and prizes will be shared should there be more than one to score a hole-in-one.

Another Yamaha cart will be raffled off during the awards rites, according to the event’s organizing committee, headed by Seniors Chapter president Jose Cedo and vice president Paco Gonzalez.

Yamaha and Fumaco, Inc. are the event’s presentors with Red Eagle Lending Investors, Inc. (RELI), Camp John Hay Golf Club, Asia Pacific Golf Corporation, Warbird Security, CJH Project Management, Inc., Romago Inc., Boracay Sands, Fairways & Bluewater, The Manor Camp John Hay, Anako Phils., AsiaPhil Manufacturing, and MRT as hole sponsors. Other backers are Fairbright Enterprises, Inc., MJJ Print Phil., Philips, Rudy Project Phils. and Sherwood Hills.

Competitions will be classified into Groups I, II, III and IV with the teams to be arranged from lowest to highest according to their team combine handicap multiplied by 50 percent.