Pinays eye top 10 finish in World Am

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines hopes to come out strong despite drawing a late morning tee-off in the first two rounds of the Espirito Santo Trophy, which gets under way Wednesday at the Olivos Golf Club and Buenos Aires Golf Club in Argentina.

Chihiro Ikeda, Dottie Ardina and Mia Piccio set out at the 10:40 a.m. flight at the Olivos layout, raring to slug it out with rivals from South Africa and Latvia and the 50 other nations competing in the ladies side of the World Amateur Golf Championship.

“The roughs are thick so it is imperative for the girls to hit it straight,” said RP and ICTSI team coach Bong Lopez, confident of her wards’ chances against the best in the world in the three-to-play, two-to-count format event.

The Philippines placed 19th in the last staging of the biennial event in Australia, ahead of SEA Games rivals Thailand (21st), Malaysia (37th) and Singapore (42nd), with Ikeda then teaming up with Anya Tanpinco and former RP Ladies Open champion and now Belgium-based Louise Manalo.

This time, Lopez said RP’s chances for a top 10 finish look good with the ICTSI-backed RP ladies, one of the earliest teams to arrive in this second largest South American country, ready to tackle the field and the two courses characterized by thick roughs, tight dog-legs and fast greens. “Emphasis will also be on the iron play and putting since the greens are so fast you have to put your approach shots on the right slopes,” said Lopez.

Ikeda, the reigning SEA Games individual champion, and the US-based Ardina and Piccio had the luxury of familiarizing themselves with the two layouts for four days although the troika found both courses tough, especially if the wind come into play.

The RP ladies tee off at 11:50 a.m. at the Buenos Aires layout in the second round with Belgium and Colombia.

Sweden romped off with a 12-shot win over Spain in 2008 and is one of teams again tipped to vie for the championship that drew 53 nations, topping the previous high of 48 in Puerto Rico in 2004 and Australia two years ago.

The men’s side of the event, the Eisenhower Cup, will be played Oct. 27-30 with the Philippines to be bannered by Mhark Fernando, Jerson Balasabas and US-based Judson Eustaquio.

The men’s team, then led by now pros Ferdie Aunzo and Rufino Bayron and Balasabas, finished tied for 27th with Austria and Iceland with Scotland beating the fancied United States by nine strokes to win the crown.