Golf Show on at MOA

MANILA, Philippines - The Golf Distributors Association of the Philippines raises the curtains for the 14th staging of the Philippine International Golf Show today with thousands of golf aficionados expected to troop to the SM Convention Center at the Mall of Asia for the three-day exhibit of the world’s biggest brands.

Local distributors of the major brands such as Adam’s Golf, Callaway Golf, Dunlop, Maruman, Mizuno, Nike Golf, PING, Tourstage, Titleist and Wilson have banded together to guarantee that this year’s Show will be like no other with the usual price slashdowns that visitors look forward to on top of interesting side-events.

Jungolfers Philippe Winsett-Palanca and Clare Amelia Legaspi will be recognized for their achievements during the opening ceremonies where DOTC Secretary and National Golf Association of the Philippines president Leandro Mendoza is the guest of honor.

Palanca won the US Kids Golf European Championship in Scotland last June while Legaspi recently won the 2009 Optimist International Junior Golf Championships in Florida and the US Kids World Championships in North California.

A Kia Soul worth P1.1 million is at stake as a prize for the hole-in-one competition that serves as a one of the highlights of the show. Urban Golf, which has the world’s most accurate and realistic simulator in its indoor golf lounge in Makati, and Kia are tying up for a special contest at Spyglass at Pebble Beach.

Players landing closest to the pin during the qualifying round on the first two days and until 5 p.m. of Day 3 will advance to the final round on the last day at 7 p.m. The first to make a hole-in-one during the qualifying round will win a business class ticket to the US courtesy of Delta and Northwest Airlines.

Leading the roster of exhibitors are GDAP members Acro Industrial Development & Construction Corp., Aetna Enterprises, Besa’s Shoes Inc., Electrobus Consolidated Inc., Gainer’s Marketing Corp., GolfPro International Ltd., Great Depot, Kart Plaza, Master Sports Corp., Pacsports Phils. Inc., Raymundo’s Trophies & Sculptures, RMA Trading, Transview Golf Philippines Inc. and WS Sports Inc.

Other exhibitors are Asiatraders Corp., Ayala Land Sales Inc., Belle Corporation, Canyon Woods, Days Hotel, Dynamic Sports Corp., Federal Land, Inc., GG & A Clubshares Brokers, Inc., Golf Ph., HealthMate Innovations, Inc., Igri Clark Industry, Madison Retailers, Inc., Medasia Philippines, Inc., MEERA Enterprises, New Smart Formulae Trading Corp., One Tiger Trading, Pagcor, Pauline’s Group Inc., Philippine Tourism Authority, Rafer Group Inc., Rudy Project Phils, Serendra Inc., SMX, Sports, Entertainment, Events Management Inc. (SEEMI), Sta. Lucia Land, Inc., Sun Valley Golf & Development Inc., The Art of Golf, Thunderbird Resorts and Urban Golf Makati.

Show hours are from 10am to 8m. Admission to the show is free.

The Beaufort (Filinvest Development Corp.) supports the event as a silver sponsor. Hole-in-one sponsors are Columbian Autocar Corporation, Delta, Northwest Airlines and Urban Golf Makati and SkyTeam.

Media partners are A Round of Golf, Business World, Inquirer Golf, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jam 88.3, Wave 89.1, Magic 89.9, 99.5 RT, Max 103.5 and 105.1 Crossover.