New faces in the Canlubang and Luisita rosters will play key roles later this week when the two Senior’s titans in the PAL Interclub see action in the 30th edition that gets going at Mimosa’s two courses at Clark Freeport in Pampanga.
Abe Avena and Zaldy Villa have been added to the Sugar Barons’ lineup as Canlubang guns for a championship repeat while breaking a tie for the most number of titles with Luisita.
Former senior’s match play champion Jungy Tuason, Benjie Sumulong and Chito Laureta are the new faces seeing action for Luisita, which actually has 15 titles but has an 8-8 standoff with the Sugar Barons since 2000.
Only three other teams—Villamor, Club Filipino de Cebu and Wack Wack—have won titles in the 55-and-above category, with Luisita and Canlubang winning all the rest since the division was introduced in 1987.
“We have a solid team of eight that can give them (Canlubang) a good fight,” said Luisita official Jeric Hechanova as the Luisitans again anchor their bid on ex-pro Eddie Bagtas and Philippine Sports Commission Chair Richie Garcia.
Francis Gaston, one of the few men who won both the Philippine Amateur and Senior Amateur titles, will be out of the Luisita lineup for the first time in decades.
Senior’s action gets the event’s 69th edition going on Thursday with the regular Men’s Division to start Wednesday next week where Canlubang eyes to make a victorious return with a team built around pro-bound Jobim Carlos.
Tommy Manotoc will again be the spearhead of the Sugar Barons and he gets another shot at Bagtas for the individual crown which he lost via a countback last year after bogeys in his last three holes in Cebu.