Superal eyes third straight in Luisita golf
Princess Superal hopes to further hone up for the Symetra Tour as she seeks a third straight Ladies Philippine Golf Tour crown in the ICTSI Luisita Ladies Championship beginning Wednesday at the Luisita Golf and Country Club in Tarlac.
Superal deferred plans to play in her first Symetra Tour also set this week in California, opting instead to compete here and get better after scoring back-to-back victories in Tagaytay and Riviera last month.
But the field she’s facing in the P1.5 million event sponsored by ICTSI also gets tougher with seven Thai aces signing up along with a host of amateurs out to keep a tradition in the country’s premier ladies circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.
Former leg winner Saruttaya Ngamusawan banners the delegation from the country’s perennial regional rival that includes Jaruporn P. Na Ayuttaya, Numa Gulyanamitta, Sarinee Thitiratanakorn, Supakchaya Pattaranakrueang, Thanuttra Boonraksasat and Ananya Vitayakonkomol.
But Superal will also have fellow local aces to contend with, including former three-time Order of Merit winner and fellow Symetra Tour campaigner Cyna Rodriguez and recent Eagle Ridge leg winner Chihiro Ikeda, who is expected to come into the 54-hole tournament in top shape after struggling in the last two legs with a slight hand injury.
Still, focus will be on the 21-year-old Superal, who broke a long LPGT title-spell with a record setting 16-shot victory at Tagaytay Highlands then followed it up with a five-stroke romp at Riviera two weeks ago.
“I feel good and pretty confident of my chances for another crack at the crown,” said Superal. “But the rest have also prepared hard for this during the break, so I expect a tough challenge.”
The cast will be led by The Country Club mainstays Mikha Fortuna, Sofia Chabon, Laia Barro, Samantha Dizon and Mafy Singson with Kristine Torralba, Japanese Kelly Marutani and Sharon Park of Canada.
Other backers of the seventh leg of this year’s LPGT are Custom Clubmakers, BDO, Meralco, Sharp, KZGm PLDT, Champion, Summit Mineral Water and K&G Golf.