N Minda braces for PAL Interclub

The country's longest running amateur golf tournament goes to Northern Mindanao for the first time starting this week with the holding of the 53rd Philippine Airlines Interclub golf tournament.

With the theme "The New and the Classic," the event will be hosted by the spanking-new Pueblo de Oro Golf and Country Club in Cagayan de Oro City and the time-tested Del Monte course in nearby Bukidnon.

The 6,974-yard, par-72 Pueblo de Oro boasts of a layout designed by the renowned Robert Trent Jones, Jr. and considered to be at par with the country's other world-class courses.

Del Monte, home of such Filipino golfing greats as Celestino Tugot and Frankie Miñoza, is a championship venue considered to be a tough test of golf. Built in 1928, the 6,880-yard, par-72 course is located in the middle of the Del Monte plantation in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, less than an hour's drive from Cagayan de Oro.

Miñoza and Felix "Cassius" Casas, both Interclub regulars before moving on to become the country's top golf professionals, will tee off the ceremonial ball on Friday, kicking off the Interclub week.

Before the regular tourney gets going, the 14th Seniors Interclub will be staged on both courses Feb. 11 to 12 with Wack Wack as the defending champion.

The regular men's event will be played from Feb. 15 to 18 with Manila Southwoods trying to make it two in a row in the face of expected stiff competition with the return of the two most dominant clubs in the 53-year history of the Interclub.

A total of 54 clubs will compete in the Seniors division while 64 clubs are entered in regular men's play. The size of the starting field in both events is a record.

Canlubang and Luisita, whose rivalry has dominated the Interclub for three decades, are back in competition after both skipping last year's tournament. The two clubs failed to make it to the event when PAL was forced to move the original schedule from February to June because of uncertainties in the airline's financial condition then.

This time, the two clubs are back with a vengeance, threatening the year-old reign of the youthful and talent-rich Southwoods.