National Seniors, Mid-Am golf fires off

The National Seniors and Mid-Am championships get going Wednesday at the composite Mount Malarayat layout in Lipa City with the likes of the grizzled Francis Gaston, Dave Hernandez and Rolly Viray shooting for a second career senior title.

Gaston, the mild-mannered hotshot from Bacolod, is always one of the favorites in this 54-hole tournament because of his great skills.

Viray and Gaston have both won the men’s and seniors’ championships.

An interesting sidelight to the event is the performance of stalwarts of the Canlubang and Luisita squads from the PAL Interclub, with Pepot Iñigo, Iggy Clavecilla and Rudy Amata representing the Luisitans.

Mari Hechanova, Tony Olives and Bing Bunye are the other Sugar Barons in the fold for the centerpiece title of the event presented by the MVP Sports Foundation as part of the PLDT Group Amateur Tour and backed by Pancake House, Golf Depot and Pacsports.

The Mid-Am event is for players aged 30 to 54 who have handicap indices of 7.0 to 12.0. A notable entry in this division is Gary Sales, the former teeboy at Villamor who now runs a chain of pro shops.