MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Open, which used to be the kick off leg of the Asian Tour, will now be the circuit’s season-ending tournament when the $ 300,000 championship presented by ICTSI is held Dec. 17-20 at the Luisita Golf and Country Club in Tarlac.
The event, the region’s oldest National Open, had faced the specter of being shelved again for the second time in three years with no updates of its staging with the golfing season about to end.
But the Asian Tour has included the Philippine Open as the final leg of this year’s circuit after the Thailand Golf Championship set Dec. 10-13 in Chonburi.
The Phl Open also serves as the second tournament the country is hosting this year, the other being the rich $ 1 million Resort World Manila Masters on Nov. 19-22 at Manila Southwoods’ Masters Course.
Aussie Marcus Both beat six players, including local aces Tony Lascuna and Jay Bayron, by two strokes to rule the Phl Open at Wack Wack last year. There was no Phl Open in 2013.
The foreign bets dominated the last three Phl Opens with American Berry Henson winning in 2011 and Singapore’s Mardan Mamat reigning in 2012, also both at Wack Wack.
But the local aces are expected to finally strike back this year with the likes of Juvic Pagunsan, Angelo Que, Miguel Tabuena, Bayron and Lascuña leading the challenge, along with Charles Hong, who humbled the cream of the local pro crop by ruling the ICTSI Luisita Championship of the ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour last May.
It will also mark the first time that Luisita will host the Phl Open and will cap the Tarlac layout’s hosting of big-time tournaments this year.
The par-72 course has been in top condition despite an absence of 26 years in the pro circuit with new owners headed by Martin Lorenzo undergoing just minor improvements to keep its mystique and make it more challenging in time for the staging of the Philippine Open.
The course has matured through the years but it is practically the same – challenging, unpredictable and the only golf course in the country designed by renowned golf architect Robert Trent Jones Sr., according to Lorenzo.