La Salle, Ateneo rekindle golf rivalry

CEBU, Philippines - The storied rivalry between De la Salle and Ateneo will once again head to the fairways and greens as the 9th La Salle-Ateneo Golf Classic Cebu tees off this Monday and Tuesday at the Cebu Country Club.

While this is only an 18-hole contest, participants have the option to play a second round to see if he or she can have a better score. The better score will be the one to count.

Qualified to join are those who have spent at least one year in either a La Salle Brothers of a Jesuit school.

Organizers met members of the media yesterday to announce the staging of the event that shall have four categories – class A (0-9 handicap), B (10-19), C (20 and above), and open for those without club certified handicaps. The Blind Callaway format will be used for the open class.

There will be prizes for the lowest gross and the top three lowest net for each category. The organizer of this year’s event is the One La Salle Cebu Alumni Association, which was represented yesterday by its president Edward Wutrich and Robert Martinez.

Entry fee for non-members of the host club is pegged at P2,500 while members of the club will only be assessed P1,500. Giveaways would be a putter and golf balls.

The tournament is presented by Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, which is hosting the awards on the 17th at the Treff Bar. 

Martinez said that this is now the only golf tournament between the two rival schools and the one in Manila has been scrapped. Ateneo was represented yesterday by Toby Florendo and Jovi Neri.

The Eagles have won the overall title seven times in the past eight editions while the La Salle Green Archers won it only two years ago.

Current high school students are not anymore allowed to join, said Martinez.

Henry Atayde and Benjie Uichico from the De la Salle Alumni Association (DLSAA) are also coming over to grace the event and hit ceremonial balls.

Major backers are Angelicum Garden of Angels, AirPhil Express, LSI/Trend Technologies, and the DLSAA. —NLQ (THE FREEMAN)