BAGUIO, Philippines – Mizuno-Ecoverde Homes, with a solid core, hopes to come out strong today and set its title drive in motion at the start of the Fil-Championship division of the 66th Fil-Am Golf Invitational at the Baguio Country Club.
Meanwhile, Gary Norris shot a 31 as Darwin Golf Club of Australia pooled a 100 and took a five-point lead in Fil-A division at the Baguio Country Club. Other scorers for Darwin were Kyle Butler (27), Andrew Joraslafsky (24) and Peter Hergreaves (18).
Silicon Valley Golfers Link I had a 95 as Cesar Cabang carded a 27, Den Luzon made a 25, Manny Dagdagan had a 22 and Ramon Ocampo chipped in a 21.
Mizuno-Ecoverde, the 2013 champion lost to a younger Manila Southwoods side last year but is ready for another title crack with a nearly intact roster reinforced by veteran campaigner Den Den de Castro.
“We still believe that experience is needed in the Fil-Am. We’ll be playing two tough courses, including Camp John Hay, so we kept the same team and added De Castro,” said Mizuno-Ecoverde Homes skipper King Stehmeier.
He, however, picked Luisita and Southwoods as the teams to beat in the centerpiece Fil-Championship division with their equally strong and talent-laden lineups.
Leading the Luisita squad are Dan Emilio Cruz and Wei Wei Gao and Hong Kong Amateur Open champ Brian Kim while Southwoods will be bannered by Ryan Monsalve and Yuto Katsarugawa.
But Stehmeier said Mizuno is ready for the challenge, confident of its chances to re-claim the crown it won two years ago.
“We’ll be ready for them. We have been practicing for this event for many months now and our confidence level is so high,” said Stehmeier.