Big field seen in President’s Cup at Tagaytay

The President’s Cup, an annual amateur event staged to honor the club president of Tagaytay Midlands Golf Club, will be held March 8 with a big field expected to vie for top honors in five divisions.

The current club president is Jerry Tiu who assumed office in 2001, while club chairman is Benito Tan Guat and vice chairmen are Willy Ocier and Hans Sy.

Due to the expected large number of entries, organizers of the event said slots will only be opened to the first 160 participants. Deadline for registration is on March 5 at 5 p.m.

The event is open to members, spouses, dependents and guests of members of both Tagaytay Highlands International Golf Club, Inc. and Tagaytay Midlands Golf Club, Inc.

There will be five categories, namely Group I for the lowest 30% gross scores, Group II next 40% and Group III the last 30% gross scores, and the ladies and guest divisions with fabulous prizes at stake.

Invited guests will be led by Philippine Sports Commission chairman Eric Buhain and commissioner Ambrosio "Bong" de Luna.

The much-anticipated event also serves as the kickoff leg of a series of club-sponsored tournaments namely: the Belle Cup on May 2-3 and the Club Championships in Oct. and Nov. at both Highlands and Midlands, and the Members’ Merry Mix-Up on Dec. 6 at the Midlands.

The event was held annually at the Tagaytay Highlands International Golf Club until 2000 before Midlands, the second luxury golf resort and residential development of Belle Corp., took over the following year.

The Midlands and Highlands championship courses, both designed by renowned golf architect Richard Bigler, offer spectacular views of Taal Lake, Laguna de Bay, Manila Bay, Batangas Bay, Mounts Makiling and Banahaw, and the Island of Mindoro, with gentle terrains and rolling hills making up most of the course, which are covered with Tifdwarf and hybrid bermuda grass stolons from Tifton, Georgia.

Complete with world-class quality sports and recreational facilities and first-class vacation homes, the club boasts of a 48-seater funicular system, the only one of its kind in the country, which takes members from the Highlands to the Midlands in no more than four minutes.

Residential projects such as Pinecrest Village, the Villas, Belle View, Woodlands, Alta Mira and Lakeview Heights, have taken root in the new golfer’s haven.

Tagaytay Midlands recently went big-time when it hosted the country’s top professionals in the 10th leg of the First Gentleman’s Golf Circuit.

The President’s Cup will be played under the System 36 format with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. while ties will be solved by a count-back. Registration fee is pegged at P1,500 for member/spouse/dependent and P3,000 for guests, inclusive of giveaways, awards lunch, use of golf cart and a raffle stub.