Ardina seeks 1st Southern Ladies title

MANILA, Philippines - US-based Dottie Ardina tries to make the most of her remaining two-week stay here as she goes for her first-ever crown in the Southern Ladies golf tournament crown unfolding tomorrow at the Ilolio Golf and Country Club in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo.

Ardina, on an extended stay here after teaming up with fellow ICTSI team mainstays Chihiro Ikeda and Mia Piccio in winning the team gold in the Laos SEA Games last December, has fallen short of her bid in the Philippine Ladies Open and The Country Club Invitational and is raring to nail down her first victory in the season.

Meanwhile, Alice Andrada, NGAP treasurer and chairperson of the NGAP Ladies Committee, NGAP directors Frankie Locsin and Pablo Soon, Butch Jamerlan, IGCCI club manager, and Maggie Rivera, president of Iloilo Golf Ladies Chapter, will hit the ceremonial drive today for the traditional Lam-Am tournament.

Ardina, the former Junior World champion, has actually racked up two victories on the FWCT (Future World Collegiate Tour) in the US late last year but has struggled on local soil, including her final round foldup in the TCC where she led in the first three rounds in the race for the low amateur honors only to falter in the end.

She was even nipped by Ikeda for runner-up honors to eventual winner Mhark Fernando but has vowed to make up for the lost chance with a victory in Iloilo. Ardina is also set to see action in the WWWExpress-DHL Amateur Open next week before leaving for the US to resume her studies in Florida.

However, it won’t be easy for Ardina, who faces a power-packed cast of challengers, headed by Ikeda and fellow ICTSI team members and former champion Anya Tanpinco, Sarah Ababa, Daniella Uy, Andie Unson, Sun Choi and Sheryl Villavicencio.