Kristopher Arevalo, less than a year removed from a world age-group crown, opens his quest for the first national championship of his career when the Philippine Amateur Junior championship tees off today at Sherwood Hills in Trece Martirez, Cavite.
Arevalo will be one of the players to watch in the 72-hole event presented by the MVP Sports Foundation as he shifts his career to another gear by slugging it out with players who are a little older like the seasoned Rupert Zaragosa.
A winner of three national titles before, including the boys’ and men’s titles he held at the same time when he was 13, Zaragosa looms as the odds-on pick in the event forming part of the PLDT Group Amateur Tour and backed by Pancake House, Golf Depot and Pacsports.
In fact, Zaragosa will come into the event with his game at a high level, having practiced over the wind-swept layout for most of the last two years.
Gio Gandiongco, who helped Cebu Country Club win the PAL Interclub for the first time in 2012, will not be around to defend his title.
He is in the United States on a golfing scholarship. Arevalo won the 13-14 bracket of the Callaway Junior World Championship last year in San Diego.
A handful of Korean expatriates, including highly touted 15-year-old Kim Tae-woo, will also be out there to spoil a Filipino party.