Princess, Jobim out of SEAG campaign

Princess Superal, the hottest female amateur in the land, and Jobim Carlos, the reigning national champion who is in the United States competing in the NCAA Division I, will miss the Philippine campaign in the Southeast Asian Games in Singapore in June.

The two, along with other crack players in the ranks, will not be in the men’s and women’s golf teams seeking gold medals in Singapore.

Superal, the reigning US Girls’ Junior champion who won 12-of-29 events here and overseas last year, has decided to skip the PH team qualifying after learning that, despite her status, she won’t be seeded to the women’s squad.

Carlos, meanwhile, is finishing a degree in advertising at the University of San Francisco and can’t take part in an eight-round qualifying drawn up by the National Golf Association of the Philippines.

Also unable to prequalify are LJ Go and Gio Gandiongco, who are both in the US on golf scholarships.

“Aren’t my past achievements enough for a slot (in the team)?” Superal said yesterday.

“I would love to play for the country, I just don’t get it that they are seeding a player directly and it isn’t me,” she said. “If they want us to go through qualifying, I would play. But everyone else should play and they should seed no one.”

Reached for comment, National Golf Association of the Philippines president Caloy Coscoluella said the decision to not seed Superal and Carlos was not solely an NGAP decision. He said it was done in consultation with the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee.

Coscoluella admitted that the NGAP’s ties with ICTSI, which bankrolls the formidable women’s program, has been rocky of late.

“What if Superal (is lined up and) doesn’t play, if ICTSI does not allow her to play?” he asked.