Charles Hong marked man at Valley

MANILA, Philippines – Charles Hong waited almost two years to win his second professional title. He is not about to rest in his bid to win a third one.

Just three days after winning the ICTSI Sherwood Hills Classic, Hong was back to work, honing his long game for the narrow fairways of the next tournament ahead—the Valley Golf Challenge at the South course in Antipolo.

Hong is one of the men to watch in the P2 million event that tees off on Wednesday after displaying dominating form in the final two rounds in Trece Martirez, Cavite, to win by a shot over young Micah Shin just last Saturday.

He was back to work on Tuesday morning at the driving range of the Southwoods Golf Club in Cavite, knowing the demands of the tree-lined Valley layout.

“It would be very important to hit it straight off the tees at Valley,” Hong said.

“Once you fall out of the fairways there, par would be a very difficult score.”

Hong put on a scoring display in the third round at Sherwood, gunning down eagles in the last three par-5s for a seven-under 65 that got him back in the mix.

He then finished off Shin and the rest of the field with a closing 69.

“But I cannot be overly confident,” Hong said. “There are a lot of great players out there.”

And unlike last week, the big guns like Antonio Lascuña, Angelo Que and Miguel Tabuena are set to rejoin the circuit after seeing action abroad, making it a wide-open race.

The traditional pro-am on Tuesday will formally usher in the event with the leading pros joining guests from backers the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. and by Nike Golf, KZG, Titleist, Cleveland, Pacsports, Srixon, Callaway, Sharp and FootJoy.