Sta. Lucia Tour kicks off at ERidge

MANILA, Philippines - Rupert Zaragosa guns for his second title of the year when he joins the Sta. Lucia Amateur Tour’s inaugural leg, which starts Thursday at the Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club in Gen. Trias, Cavite.

Zaragosa, who dominated the DHL tournament last month, will play in the Open Division – the first for the more-than-a-decade tour established by Sta. Lucia Land Inc.

Sta. Lucia revamped its tour in support of the country’s amateur development.  Aside from the Open, it will also have Classes A and B for  Sta. Lucia golf club members.

“We hope to discover new talents through our tour,” Vicente Santos, chairman of SLLI, said of the event supported by Mizuno, Pomelo Tee Foundation, and Davies Paints.

Interconnect Systems, Alpha Quality Express, Dizon, Ecostrong, Texas Eagle, Isuzu Phils., Rub Rubs & BBQ, VMJ Evergreen, U-Freight and WGC Golf are sponsors.

Expected to challenge Zaragosa are national amateur pool members Dan Emilo Cruz and Kristoffer Arevalo, and junior golfers Raymart Tolentino, Aidric Chan, Ira Alido and Lanz Uy.

Cruz, the host club’s bet, will have a bit of advantage as he has extensive knowledge of the tricky par-72 Aoki course while Arevalo was part of the PAL Interclub’s runner-up Orchard.

In the ladies side, which will play Eagle Ridge’s Norman layout, will be headlined by Felicia Medalla, Bianca Pagdanganan, Harmie Constantino and Miya Legaspi.