WWWEx-DHL tilt under way at Cangolf

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s leading players in the amateur ranks, headed by reigning national champion Mhark Fernando, slug it out beginning today as the WWWExpress-DHLNational Golf Championships fires off at the north course of the Canlubang Golf and Country Club in Laguna.

Fernando has been tipped as the player to beat in the four-day tournament owing to his top form, having captured the low amateur honors in the recent The Country Club Invitational and his familiarity with the par-72 course, which he calls home.

Brand-new dad Jhonnel Ababa, Fernando’s teammate in the ICTSI-Canlubang team, is also expected to come out strong after missing the TCC Invitational along with the other club bets raring to flaunt their knowledge of the tough layout, particularly its putting surface which could make or break one’s title bid.

But the challenge could come from a crack ICTSI-The Country Club team all primed-up for the big event next to the RP Amateurs, including former champion Rufino Bayron, Antonio Asistio II, Peter Villaber and former Hong Kong Amateur Open champion Dante Becierra.

The four-day championship, sponsored by WWWExpress and DHL, also serves as a preview of the forthcoming title duel by the Cangolf and TCC squads in the PAL Interclub in Bacolod two weeks from now.

A shootout also looms in the 54-hole ladies division, which gets going tomorrow with Dottie Ardina eyeing a second straight victory after toppling SEA Games gold medalist and ICTSI teammate Chihiro Ikeda for the Southern Ladies Open crown in Iloilo last week.

“I know Chihiro will try to even things up. But I’ll be ready,” said the 16-year-old Ardina, who is set to leave for the US after the tournament to resume her studies in Florida.

Ikeda, who racked up eight victories here and abroad last year, remains winless in the season but confident of her chances for a third straight championship in the tournament conducted by the National Golf Association of the Phils. and hosted by Cangolf.

Others competing in the event, put up by WWWExpress chair Rod Feliciano, are Seung Geun Kim of Forest Hills, Alta Vista’s Angelo Gadionco, Eagle Ridge’s Lawrence Celestino, Jonar Austria of Lake Wood Golf and Country Club, Christian delos Santos of Aguinaldo and Forest Hills’ Raymundo Iñigo and Indonesian Sudirman.

Joining Ardina and Ikeda in the ladies side are former two-time national champion Anya Tanpinco, Sarah Ababa, Gerie Leen Handog of Alabang and Matet Salivio of Aguinaldo plus a host of other talented players from the various golf clubs in the land.