S’woods eyes 3-peat in PAL Ladies interclub

MANILA, Philippines - Manila Southwoods sets out for a first-ever three-peat in the Philippine Airlines Ladies Interclub, armed with a solid roster and ready to take the challenge of a crack field in the eighth staging of the event beginning Wednesday at Rancho Palos Verdes Golf and Country Club in Davao City.

The Southwoods ladies swept the first two editions of the revival of the event, beating Del Monte by 54 points in 2011, also at Palos Verdes, and repeating over the Mindanao squad last year at Sta. Barbara, Iloilo, where it rallied from 32 points down after 36 holes to win by 23 points under the Molave scoring system.

That back-to-back title romp matched Alabang’s feat in the last PAL Ladies Interclub in 1987-88 before the event was revived in 2011 to give the growing number of golfing ladies a tournament of their own and at the same time complement the staging of the longest-running PAL Men’s and Seniors Interclub.

Mia Legaspi, Annika Cedo and Abby Arevalo banner the Southwoods Masters team, which includes Katrina Gonzales, Claire Ong, Sofia Legaspi and Lora Roberto with Beachie Abiera as the skipper of the squad seeking a third straight crown in the premier Championship Division.

The Carmona-based squad is actually fielding in a second  team – Southwoods Legends composed of Andrea Pineda, Christine Naidoo, Rosanna Velhagen, Yong Mi Kim, Florence Okiyama, Denise Tambuatco and Deanna Samaniego with Claudine Garcia as team captain.

The PAL Ladies Interclub, a four-to-play, three-to-count format event, drew 21 teams this year and is backed by Airbus, San Miguel Brewery Inc., Purefoods, Magnolia Healthy Refreshments, Ginebra San Miguel, Magnolia Purewater, San Mig Coffee, Magnolia Ice Cream and San Mig Purefoods and supported by Merck Inc. Philippines and Diamond Hotel.

For details and updates, visit www.palladiesinterclub.com.