Organizers eye alternate venues for RP Open

Bracing for a worse-case scenario, organizers of the 88th DHL-Philippine Open said they will tap any of the three championship layouts in southern metropolis in case Mimosa fails to meet the deadline set for the renovation of its composite Acacia and Lakeview courses in Clark Field, Pampanga.

"We’re running out of time. They (Mimosa management) have to do it quick or we will transfer the RP Open to another venue," said Benny Gopez, chairman of the RP Open organizing committee.

With barely three weeks before the keenly-awaited $150,000 event presented by San Miguel Corp. is staged Feb. 26-29, the venue, a short par-70 layout, remains far from reaching championship form, prompting the NGAP (National Golf Association of the Philippines) officials to come up with alternative sites.

They include the picturesque Tagaytay Midlands in Tagaytay, The Orchard in Dasmariñas, Cavite and the Sta. Elena Golf Club in Cabuyao, Laguna.

Top officials of these golf clubs have already assured the NGAP of their readiness to host an event of such magnitude with the last two boasting of successful stagings of major tournaments in the past.

The Orchard drew some of the world’s big guns when it hosted the Johnnie Walker Classic in 1995 won by American Fred Couples while Sta. Elena was a proud host of the 1996 World Amateur Championships.

Both courses are all-weather layouts and are ready to stage events like the RP Open at any given time.

The Midlands, on the other hand, has already hosted a tournament for the pros in the local circuit and is ready and more than willing to stage the country’s premier golf championship.

Gopez, also the secretary-general of the NGAP, and other RP Open officials will conduct another inspection of the Mimosa layout this Saturday and will decide whether to hold the event there or not.

The decision to tap Mimosa’s two nines of Acacia and Lakeview courses was actually a second option after the original plan to use one nine of Mountain View layout backfired after the organizers found out that it won’t be ready for the Open.

Some 100 foreign players are expected to compete in what could be the biggest RP Open ever, led by defending champion Rick Gibson of Canada with the local challenge to be spearheaded by former champions Frankie Miñoza, Gerald Rosales and Cassius Casas.

The blue-ribbon event will be preceded by the traditional pro-am event with Mitsubishi Motors, a perennial backer of the RP Open, staking two brand new Mitsubishi cars for hole-in-one feats in the pro-am and the tournament proper.