12 nations compete in AsPac golf

Twelve countries are expected to compete in the first Asia-Pacific Junior Masters championship this December in the Legends course of the Manila Southwoods.

The event, to be conducted by the Junior Golf Foundation of the Philippines, will be launched to join the annual Asia-Pacific junior golf championship as the premier jungolf tournaments in Asia and the Pacific.

The Philippines was chosen to host the inaugural staging during the Asian championships in Taiwan.

"We are honored to have been picked as the first venue. I think our neighbors recognize that it is in the Philippines where the interest in the promotion of jungolf really started," said jungolf chair Amalia Montecillo.

This early, the Jungolf leadership led by its president Merwin Mediana, is conducting a series of tryouts for prospective members of the national team.

A pool of eight boys and seven girls will be chosen and will be trained by noted coach Bong Lopez.

Before the tourney in December, the four boys and three girls who will make up the regular team will be named, according to Mediana.

The boys competition will be for 72 holes while the girls side will be just for 54 holes.

Expected to lead the country’s challenge is Jayvie Agojo, who won two major diadems in the US -- the Optimist International and the Temecula championships.