Luisita, Canlubang bring rivalry to Cebu
ONLY two teams have won the Philippine Airlines (PAL) Interclub seniors golf championships in the last 14 years.
The storyline will most likely be the same when Luisita begins its title defense against old rival Canlubang Thursday at the Mactan golf course in Lapu-Lapu City.
Luisita won five straight titles from 2001 before Canlubang took seven of the next nine editions.
Luisita, which is gunning for its 16th crown, is fielding an almost intact lineup. Two of its key players, however, are battling health issues.
Eddie Bagtas, who powered the team to victory in Bacolod last year, skipped practice Wednesday after his blood pressure shot up to 170 over 90.
Pepot Iñigo, on the other hand, was still recovering from the flu and might be fielded only in the last two rounds.
After an absence of two years, Tommy Manotoc is returning to action for Canlubang, but he may have to bring his A-game to foil Luisita’s bid for back-to-back crowns.
National seniors champion Abe Avena, one of Canlubang’s top gunners, failed to get the doctor’s clearance to play. He suffered a rib injury following a vehicular accident two weeks ago in Manila.
Aside from Bagtas and Inigo, Luisita is made up of Francis Gaston, Richie Garcia, Seve Roxas Chua, Lino Magpantay, Rudy Amata and Bong Sison.
Manotoc, who came here Sunday, will be backed up by Dave Hernandez, Rolly Viray, Mari Hechanova, Tony Olives, Luigi Yulo, Bing Bunye and Rene Unson.
With both teams nursing personnel problems, the fielding of players will play a vital role in the tournament.
Each team is allowed to field four players each round with the top three scores to count. However, each player is allowed to play only two rounds.
Last year, Luisita overcame a two-point overnight deficit to beat Canlubang by two at the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club.
Gaston and Sison starred for Luisita with 51 and 50 points, respectively.
Aside from Mactan, the event will be played at the Club Filipino in Danao. The second and third round will be played at Club Filipino.
While Mactan is relatively flat and features narrow fairways, Club Filipino is an upand-down mountain course which puts premium on accuracy and placement.