3 more golf courses bid for RP Open

Now it seems everybody wants to host the 88th DHL-Philippine Open.

Three more venues have signified their intention — and assured their readiness — to host the country’s premier golf championship if and when Mimosa is unable to refurbish its composite Acacia and Lakeview courses in time for the staging of the blue-ribbon event on Feb. 26-29.

Luisita, that gem of a course in Tarlac, joined the three other golf clubs — Tagaytay Midlands, The Orchard and Sta. Elena Golf Club — which have earlier showed their desire to host the $150,000 event presented by San Miguel Corp. following reports of an impending failure of the Mimosa management to come up with a truly championship layout.

Also making their bids are the Riviera Golf Club in Silang, Cavite, site of the 2000 RP Open, and the spanking Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club, also in Cavite, which boasts of four world-class layouts.

"I am so surprised to get all these calls," said NGAP (National Golf Association of the Phils.) president Rod Feliciano, referring to the offers made by top officials of Luisita, Riviera and Eagle Ridge.

The par-72 Luisita layout is a class of its own with magnificent slopes and lagoons whose year-round maintenance and recent renovations assure excellent playing conditions.

A par-71 course, Riviera’s Langer layout is packed with challenges what with its tight fairways and daunting ravines and it could offer one of the most difficult tests for the pros especially when the winds come into play.

The Eagle Ridge, on the other hand, offers four championship courses designed by four of the world’s best shotmakers, including Greg Norman and Nick Faldo, and is raring to host an event of such magnitude.

Feliciano, however, stressed that they are committed to hold the event at Mimosa at this stage with the final decision to be made on Monday when they meet with officials of the Clark Development Corp., led by Manny Angeles.

"As long as they meet the target, we will do everything to stage it at Mimosa," said Feliciano.

Benny Gopez, chair of the RP Open organizing committee, said they will conduct a final inspection of the composite courses tomorrow and will decide from there whether or not to hold the event inside the former US military base in Angeles City.

With barely three weeks before the Open, Feliciano said they have to decide the soonest possible time since a team from the Asian PGA Tour is expected to arrive next week to conduct an ocular inspection of the venue.

The APGA is bringing in some 100 foreign players, led by defending champion Rick Gibson of Canada, with the local challenge to be bannered by former champions Frankie Minoza, Gerald Rosales and Cassius Casas.

If ever, Mimosa will stage a tournament of this magnitude for the first time although it hosted Tiger Woods, local ace Cassius Casas and two other ace Taiwanese players in a one-day event in 1997. But the planned composite par-70 layout, which links both nines of Acacia and Lakeview course, appears to be too short for the men of the tour.

Organizers of the RP Open have vowed to come up with the biggest-ever Open this year after it was shelved last year following a controversy inside the APGA organization which fouled up the scheduling of Asia’s oldest golfing event.

The 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.