Record format marks ICTSI E Ridge golf

MANILA, Philippines - The ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour resumes next week with the ICTSI Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club Tour Proper, which offers a record purse of P3 million and a record format – four days on four different courses.

“This is going to be anybody’s race with no player holding a distinct advantage on any of the four courses at Eagle Ridge,” said Colo Ventosa, general manager of the organizing Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.

“This should be the ultimate test of golf and mental toughness,” she added. “This is a first, at least in Asia.”

Truly, never had there been a tournament, even during the so-called local majors in the 90s, played over four different courses in all four days, making the upcoming event – set April 8-11 – nothing but a thriller of a chase for golf history and a record top prize of P550,000.

The 100-player field, led by first leg champion at ICTSI Splendido Jay Bayron and ICTSI John Hay stage winner Jun Rates, will be split and play the Norman and Faldo courses in the first two days with the surviving 40-plus ties after 36 holes moving over to the dreaded Dye course for the third round.

The final round will be played at the Aoki layout.

“It will require a lot of everything. The Dye layout alone is very tough, especially in the presence of the wind. But we have to be able to build momentum at Norman and Faldo courses in the first two days and see what happens at Dye,” said reigning back-to-back ICTSI PGT Order of Merit champion Tony Lascuña in Pilipino.

Lascuña placed fourth at Splendido and finished runner-up to Rates in Baguio, again making him one of the favorites in the third leg of the 16-stage circuit sponsored by International Container Terminal Services, Inc.