Expectations high for Southwoods

MANILA, Philippines — Southwoods will play in the Championship division of the Philippine Airlines Interclub Senior tournament for the first time when the 74th edition gets going in Cebu next week.

But the Carmona-based squad is not looking at itself as a solid title contender.

“We are balanced, but not deep,” non-playing skipper Freddie Mendoza said.

When pressed to assess his squad’s chances against traditional powers Canlubang and Luisita, he said: “Our first four is solid, but our last four is iffy at best.”

Southwoods won the Founders Division the last time the Interclub was played before the pandemic, and with the club welcoming Jun Jun Plana into the ranks after a storied Regular Men’s career, expectations are naturally high – especially after winning the Fil-Am crown in Baguio last December.

“That had a very different format,” Mendoza said, referring to the Fil-Am’s five-to-play, four-to-count format for four days. The Interclub will have eight players per team, with only four players seeing action and the top three scores counting. Players are also limited to playing only two rounds.