Southwoods up for great fight in quest for No. 9

CAGAYAN DE ORO--Manila Southwoods is bracing for its biggest fight in its dynastic reign in the Philippine Airlines (PAL) Regular Men’s Interclub championship with Eastridge coming up as a force with a program that already beat the Carmona-based squad three months ago.

“Yes, definitely,” Southwoods official Jerome Delariarte said when asked if Eastridge is a contender in the event that starts Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, at Pueblo de Oro here.

“They’re continuously improving. They finished second to us last year and beat us in the Am division of the Fil-Am (another team tournament in Baguio last December).”

Southwoods will still be fielding a rock-solid team built around pro-bound Aidric Chan, Lanz Uy and Ryan Monsalve, annd Delariarte believes they have all the firepower they need.

“We have a pretty solid team, but championships are not won on paper,” Delariarte said as Southwoods shoots for its ninth straight title since 2014, a streak that had the squad parading such players as PGA Tour star Tom Kim and DP World Tour standout Yuto Katsuragawa.

Eastridge, meanwhile, will be coming into the event with all the confidence it needs, especially after having gained a year’s worth of experience since a runner-up finish last year in Cebu. And the most important thing for the Binangonan, Rizal club is that it already knows that taste of winning.

“For sure, we will be coming in better prepared this year,” Gimo Asuncion, the Eastridge GM who will be the non-playing skipper here, said.. “The boys are more experienced now and although we really have no expectations, will we be giving it our all this week.”

Gary Sales, the ex-pro turned businessman, will be seeing action in the centerpiece division for the first time and will be the stabilizing presence in the youth-laden Eastridge lineup. Jeff Lumbo, a discovery of Sales, looms as a player to watch.