CEBU , Philippines – After falling far behind in the first leg, Alta Vista’s title-retention bid faces a crucial test as the Cebuanos eye a big rebound in the Visayas stop of the 10th Sta. Lucia Golf Tour they are hosting starting today here.
The Alta Vistans hope to sustain their winning record at home in the nine previous stagings of the inter-club competition as they try to recover from a 12-point deficit in the kickoff Mindanao leg last month at the Rancho Palos Verdes Golf and Country Club in Davao.
While holding off Palos Verdes is the main goal, the Cebuanos should remain wary of Eagle Ridge whose collection of four overall titles in the course-hopping series they are trying to match.
Palos, Eagle and Alta Vista are currently 1-2-3 in the standings with 46, 37 and 34 points, respectively. All three teams will try to keep the point difference as close as possible heading into next month’s two-part final stage in Luzon.
Organizers of the Sta. Lucia Tour sponsored by Hyundai, Autohub, Wilson, LG Electronics and Philippine Airlines, Marriott-Cebu, Marco Polo Hotel-Davao and Bellevue Manila said they will also try to solicit donations for victims of the killer typhoon Ondoy from the 200 participants.
“Although most of them have already made their generous contributions, we believe we can still generate more for our suffering countrymen,” said tour executive committee co-chair Wini Gob and Vicente Santos.
Also in the field with their corresponding first leg points are Summit Point of Batangas (27), Royale Tagaytay (24), Orchard of Cavite (20), Beverly Place of Pampanga (18), Lakewood of Cabanatuan (16) and Caliraya Springs of Laguna (10).