Dumandan, Bayron open RP defense in Singapore

SINGAPORE – Marvin Dumandan and Jay Bayron plunge into action in the Singapore Open Amateur Championship beginning today, ready and eager to shoot it out with the best players in the fold and set the Philippines’ title-retention bid in motion at the Singapore Island Country Club’s Bukit course.

Toughened up by their recent stint abroad, including at the North Orange Country Amateur Championship in California, which Dumandan won in come-from-behind fashion, the RP bets are confident of retaining the team crown Juvic Pagunsan and Michael Bibat won last year over Malaysia.

"In terms of confidence-building and exposure, our stints in the US really helped us a lot," said Dumandan, also the reigning DHL Open champion, in Filipino. "We’ll do our best to come up with a fine start and hope to sustain it."

The 27-year-old Dumandan and Bayron are two of the pool of players training the ICTSI golf program, put up early this year by the RP’s leading and one of the world’s top port management companies, to provide the country’s jungolfers and amateurs the proper venue where they could hone their talent and skills.

Now considered as the country’s No. 1 amateur after Pagunsan and Artemio Murakami turned pro early this year, Dumandan, however, admitted that they are in for a tough outing in the two-player team championship owing to a talent-laden field out to foil the Philippines’ back-to-back title campaign.

Add to that the long, daunting par-72 layout, whose tight fairways, thick roughs and unpredictable putting surface are expected to bring out the best, or worst, from the competing field.

"Premium will be on hitting the fairways and course management since the fairways are tight with three long par 3s to boot. But with their experience, I expect Marvin, Jay and Michael to play well here," said national team coach Bong Lopez, who with fellow ICTSI official Nestor Mendoza are overseeing the RP golfers’ participation in this event which also serves as part of the team’s buildup for the World Amateurs in October and the Asian Games in December.

The Filipino bets are actually gunning for a sweep, including the individual plum Pagunsan lost to ChooTze Huang of Singapore. But the local hero is back in the hunt and so does a bunch of players from 15 countries, including those from the US, England, Australia, New Zealand and RP’s perennial regional rival Thailand.

Like RP, whose participation is sanctioned by the National Golf Association of the Philippines, Thailand is fielding in its national team in the tournament, including Nakarintra Rattanakul, Ekkalak Waisayakul and Anujit Hirunrattanakorn.

Aside from Dumandan, Bayron and Bibat, members of the team that won the SEA Games team crown last year, also seeing action in the four-day championship are ICTSI players Gene Bondoc, Anthony Fernando, Eugene Bunyi,

Michael Alejandro and Dante Bisera – each capable of dishing out great games and crowding the favorites for the individual crown.

Also in the fold are former national amateur champion Jun Bernis, Mhark Fernando, Jhonnel Ababa and Ferdinand Aunzo.