The sixth National Doubles Amateur Golf Championship unfolds today with World Junior Girls’ champion team member Harmie Constantino and the Legaspi sisters – Missy and Mia – spicing up the Division I field at Camp Aguinaldo Golf Club in QC.
Constantino, who teamed up with Yuka Saso and Sofia Legaspi to capture the World Junior Girls’ diadem in Canada last September, will partner with Gabriel Macalaguim in the three-day championship serving as the final leg of the annual National Amateur Golf Tour organized by the National Golf Association of the Philippines and sponsored by the PLDT Group, the MVP Sports Foundation, Smart and Metro Pacific Investment Corp.
The Legaspi siblings, on the other hand, are raring to prove their worth, together with the Kristine Torralba-Alex Etter pair, as they join the centerpiece event of the annual tournament hosted by CAGC which features the country’s top and up-and-coming players in the ranks.
Jobim Carlos and Iñigo Raymundo ruled last year’s edition of the event via come-from-behind fashion over Ira Alido and Aidric Chan last year. But Carlos has joined the pro ranks, while Alido has tapped new partner in Paolo Wong.
Former pro Eddie Bagtas is also in the fold and will team up with Bobby Iñigo, while Bagtas’ son Leandro has picked Alexi Garzon as partner. The other fancied pairs in the premier division are the Adrian Romero-JP De Claro, Ryan Monsalve-Lanz Uy and Carlo Villaroman-Raymart Tolentino tandems.
But focus will be on Constantino, who scored a big victory on the local ladies pro circuit at the Mt. Malarayat leg.
Yuto Katsuragawa, the spearhead of Manila Southwoods’ romp in big club tournaments, including in the recent Fil-Am Championship, is linking up with Carl Corpus while Jelbert Gamolo teams up with Gab Manotoc and Tomi Arejola partners with Nik Gatmaytan.
The field will slug it out under the four-ball (best-ball) format in the first round with action shifting to aggregate in the next before the two-ball foursome in the final round, according to the organizing NGAP.
For details, call NGAP at (02) 706-5962 (Cathy or Charlyn) or CAGC (02) 913-2750 (Arlene).