La Salle, Ateneo renew rivalry at the greens

CEBU - The 7th La Salle-Ateneo Golf Classic in Cebu will be held on November 12 and 13 at the par-72 Cebu Country Club.

This was announced yesterday by the organizing One La Salle Cebu Alumni Association during an informal gathering with the members of the media at the Casino Español de Cebu.

The two competing teams alternately host this event, which Ateneo won during its first five editions. La Salle ended its long dry spell last year.

The tournament will follow the strokeplay format for those with club certified handicaps. Those without official handicaps will play in the open division that would use the System-36 handicapping.

For those with official handicaps, they will be classified under three classes with points to be awarded for the top three based on gross and net scores per class.

There will also be the Ryder Cup-format matchplay events on the 13th to be highlighted by the singles match between the presidents of the two alumni associations – Javy Quintos for La Salle and Tony Pineda for Ateneo.

The chairman of this year’s event is OLCAA board member John Pages with San Remigio, Cebu Vice Mayor Nino Bascon to again serve as skipper of the La Salle Team.

Bascon said that La Salle is hoping to do a repeat of last year’s performance, when it prevented the Ateneo squad from taking home the second trophy for three consecutive overall titles.

Lawyer Jovi Neri of Ateneo, who was in the gathering, said that they are hoping to reclaim the title.

Neri said that after the success of the Ateneo basketball team over La Salle in the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) tournament in Manila, they also want to win all other events against La Salle.

Bascon said that both teams would again be bringing to Cebu its top players from other parts of the country.

To qualify for the event, a player must have spent at least one school year with a La Salle Brothers or a Jesuit school.- THE FREEMAN