BACOLOD , Philippines – It will be a question of pride and desire to gain respect as Canlubang goes all out to keep its winning tradition and The Country Club tries to end its rival’s domination in the PAL Interclub men’s golf championship which fires off today at the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club here.
Despite boasting of an almost intact roster headed by reigning national champion Mhark Fernando, Cangolf coach Tommy Manotoc remains wary of their neighboring rivals who could also be considered a sister team since they are both backed by the same patron.
But similarity begins and ends there as these two teams loaded with talents and new promising recruits simply have so much to dispute for – turf, players, attention and the likes.
But this particular arena – the PAL Interclub – perhaps ranks high in their own agenda, this being the unofficial national team championship where they plan months or a year ahead to come up with a better, fighting team in a bid to topple each other.
On the eve of the event, officials of both squads remain tightlipped as to who would be fielded in the first day although Cangolf, with so much material in its arsenal, could go for its main team and let the rest do the rest.
“This match will be decided by experience and second team – both Cangolf advantage,” said ICTSI-TCC skipper Freddie Mendoza. “We are actually a development team that’s why we are younger and inexperienced.”
But Manotoc begged to disagree. He maintained there is no favorite here since both Cangolf, also supported by ICTSI, and TCC are almost even in all aspects.
“The competition is very even,” said Manotoc, whose team beat a star-studded TCC squad in its debut last year, duplicating Cangolf’s four-peat feat in 2000-03.
“The good scorers of Canlubang and TCC will surely cancel out. So the outputs of the third and fourth men will be crucial down the stretch,” said Manotoc.
That’s bench depth and Cangolf seems to still have the edge with World Amateur veteran Jesse Balasabas, Alvin Engino, Paul Echavez and Abe Rosal expected to provide support to Fernando and Jhonnel Ababa, two of the most feared players in the ranks today.
Reeling from the loss of former national champions Ferdie Aunzo and Anthony Fernando, TCC will be relying on Rufino Bayron and Antonio Asistio II although coach Bong Lopez said he would pin his hopes more on local talent JR Tanpinco and new recruit Fil-Am Carl Ocampo.
“I expect JR to deliver on his home turf (at Marapara) while Ocampo has shown a lot of promise and should be there for us,” said Lopez, “Our goal is to keep it close in the first three days to get a shot at the crown.”
The head coach of the ICTSI golf program also expects more from his less-fancied bunch of players that included Dante Becierra, Peter Villaber, Zanie Boy Gialon and rookies Brent Sumampong, Alex Nallos and Erwin Madrileno,
“The boys are prepared and motivated,” said Mendoza. “However, almost half of the team are rookies in a sense. It’s really hard to replace Aunzo and Fernando but we have equally promising new players,” Focus will be on Ocampo, the first Notre Dame-Indiana player to reach the match play of the US Amateur in 2008. The 22-year-old talent, discovered by ICTSI-TCC assistant coach Nestor Mendoza in one of the team’s stints in the US in 2008, arrived only last weekend and had a grand day testing the Binitin layout last Monday where he scored a six-under card.
Cangolf also hopes to come up with a surprise package in Rupert Saragoza, a 12-year-old lad who will try to contribute to the team’s five-peat drive and humble his older, more experienced rivals in a tournament of this magnitude. The team also inclues Jobim Carlos, Art Arbole and Joey Huerva, former members of the TCC squad.
“I think we are more focused and determined. I hope we don’t commit rookie mistakes. If we don’t, we have chance of upsetting Cangolf,” said Mendoza.
Manotoc, who also hopes to deliver the fifth championship after Cangolf seniors squad was foiled by Luisita in their side of the duel last week, said the key is getting the right mix of players in each playing day.
Like in the seniors setup, Marapara will host the first round with action shifting to Binitin’s Bacolod Golf and Club in the next two rounds before heading back to the NOGCC for the final round.
The final submission of rosters was set late last night although a team can change its lineup 15 minutes before tee-off
The event is presented by platinum sponsors Airbus, Boeing, 105.1 Crossover and Radio Mindanao Network. Major sponsors are Action Asia, GE Aviation, MTV Philippines, People Asia and Royal Caribbean. The corporate backers are Business Mirror, Philippine Graphic, www.philstar.com,
Sabre Airline Solutions/Sabre Travel Network and Resort World Manila.
Century Park Hotel, DWWW 774 AM, Panay News, Master Card and Thales Aerospace are minor sponsors.
The 63rd PAL Interclub, with this year’s theme “Swing High in Bacolod “, opens this year’s sporting season for the national flag carrier which flies five times a day to the capital of Negros Occidental, just one of the country’s many golfing venues regularly served by PAL.