Southwoods beatable in Fil-Am golf

MANILA Southwoods is heavily favored once more to rule the Fil–Am Golf Invitational blasting off Sunday through ceremonial shots hit by Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan, Rep. Mark Go and tournament chairmen Tim Allen and Anthony de Leon.

Hostilities officially started on Monday but all eyes are on Southwoods beginning Tuesday (Dec. 11) as t h e Carmonabased squad attempts to retain the crown it had consistently won for years now.

No team other than Southwoods has drawn much attention to the world’s biggest and longest running amateur golf tilt traditionally hosted by both Camp John Hay and Baguio Country Club in the summer capital of the Philippines.

The 124 teams are almost unanimous in saying that Southwoods will be it again.

They cite but one single reason in this series of five-to-play, four-to-count format backed by San Miguel Corp. and Toyota.

And it is this: Aside from Yuto Katsuragawa, Southwoods has another formidable player in Aguri Iwasaki, also a Japanese.

Katsuragawa has been Southwoods’ perennial mainstay and, this year, he carries into the 69th edition of the Fil-Am two prestigious global trophies.

Katsuragawa won this year Japan’s amateur crown at the Chubu Amateur Championship last June. In May, he snatched the more laudable World University Championship at the Pradera Verde Golf Club in Pampanga.

With those sterling feats, Katsurawaga zoomed to the Top 10 in Japan, occupying that lofty eighth spot in the current national standings in the Land of the Rising Sun.

And now this: Iwasaki is reputed to be a better shot-maker than Katsuragawa.

Will the premiere Fil-Am competition then that is the Men’s Regular be reduced this year to a mere battle for second place, as Southwoods is fancied to pocket an unprecedented 17th Fil title?

I will still insist that Southwoods is beatable as competition needs four players everyday—not just two—to compile winning scores.

Do Katsuragawa and Iwasaki have enough back-up to complete the Southwoods’ mission?

In golf, everything’s up in the air and so, all the best, fellas!