Lascuna joins ICTSI CJH title hunt

MANILA, Philippines - Reigning Order of Merit champion Tony Lascuna has confirmed participation in the rich ICTSI Camp John Hay Championship, completing the stellar cast in the P2.5 million event firing off tomorrow at the John Hay Golf Club in Baguio City.

Lascuna, who dominated the ICTSI-Philippine Golt Tour last year with three wins and four runner-up finishes, didn’t see action in the local circuit’s kickoff leg at Sherwood won by Miguel Tabuena last month but has made himself available for the second leg, now a four-day championship offering a top purse of P450,000.

Marvin Dumandan ruled this leg last year, which was, however, played through 54 holes, dishing out a fiery finish to foil Carl Santos-Ocampo.

“The field is strong but I’m ready,” said Lascuna, who also missed this Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc.-organized event last year to campaign on the Asian Tour. “I always look forward to playing on the local circuit whenever I’m available.”

The ace Davaoeño shotmaker, however, racked up three wins in his nine appearances on the ICTSI-PGT, including the final leg at ICTSI Wack Wack Championship to clinch the OOM crown.

But Lascuna expects a stiff challenge from the elite field that includes reigning Asian Development Tour OOM winner Jay Bayron, fellow Asian Tour campaigners Mars Pucay, fresh from a joint 10th place finish in the Pattaya Open last Sunday, and Elmer Salvador, the 2011 OOM champion.

Focus will also be on Tabuena, seeking to nail back-to-back wins after a dominating performance at ICTSI Sherwood where he beat Edward Reyes by a whopping eight-shot victory.

PGT Qualifying School winner Guido Van der Valk of the Netherlands and Tomokazu Yoshinaga, also a top Q-School qualifier, are also in the fold along with young guns and last year’s leg winners Santos-Ocampo, Charles Hong and Zanie Boy Gialon.

Meanwhile, Tabuena, Bayron, Van der Valk, Reyes, Santos-Ocampo, Hong and Gialon head the field in today’s traditional pro-am tournament which also features guests from the event’s chief backers, including International Container Terminal Services, Inc., Nike Golf, Empire Golf and Sports Shop, Mizuno, Titleist, Srixon, Foot Joy, Callaway, Pacsports, Custom Clubmakers, Cleveland Golf and Sharp.