Youngsters take spotlight at Pradera Ladies Challenge

MANILA, Philippines — Young turks get the chance to hog the limelight in the Pradera Verde Ladies Challenge, all primed up to make an impact for their respective teams when the second staging of the event is held Jan. 15-17 at the Pradera Verde Golf and Country Club in Lubao, Pampanga.

Team Southeast Asia will pin its hopes on 13-year-olds Pimkwan Chookaew and Phannarai Meesom-us of Thailand, and Singapore’s Shannon Tan as it shoots for a repeat of their convincing victory in the inaugural staging of the event pitting the country’s leading jungolfers and amateurs against the top players from neighboring SEA countries last year.

But Team Philippines has also bolstered its roster, tapping in-form Yuka Saso and Harmie Constantino to anchor a side that also features a pair of talented 13-year-olds in Annyka Cayabyab and Laurea Duque.

Cayabyab, a Grade 8 student at St. Paul Pasig who notched a number of titles abroad, including the Junior World in San Diego, the Veritas Junior Golf and the Future Champions of Golf International, both in California, posted one victory last year in partnership with Mikha Fortuna in four-ball. But the former youngest Most Outstanding Kapampangan awardee, now 13, hopes to put in a stronger performance in the upcoming blue-ribbon event.

So does Duque, the De La Salle-Zobel mainstay, 13, who had stints in the US Kids Golf and Teen World Championship and eager to provide the youth power and deliver for the hosts in the three-day championship patterned after the Ryder Cup.

Other members of Team Phl, co-skippered by Norman Sto. Domingo, Rolly Romero and Daisy Reyes, are Nicole Abelar, Tomi Arejola, Sofia Chabon, Bernice Olivarez-Ilas, Kayla Nocum and Fortuna.

“With Yuka and Harmie providing the experience, Annyka and Laurea the youth power and the rest the depth and spunk, we expect Team Phl to rebound from last year’s defeat,” said Archen Cayabyab, who launched the event last year with Lubao Mayor Mylyn Pineda-Cayabyab and Sto. Domingo to help boost the country’s amateur golf program.