Philippine golf aces vie in National doubles

Reigning national champion and junior titlist Rupert Zaragosa and US golf scholar Jobim Carlos are expected to lead the crack roster of amateurs vying in the first NGAP National Doubles Amateur Championship which gets going Dec. 26 at the AFP Golf Club (formerly Aguinaldo Golf Club).

Keen competition is seen in the inaugural staging of the event put up by the National Golf Association of the Philippines in its continuing effort to provide a venue for members of the national pool through a variety of tournaments where they could hone their talent and skills, especially in team play.

Expected to join Zaragosa and Carlos in the centerpiece Group I division are former national champion Clyde Mondilla, reigning Samsung Open titlist Zanie Boy Gialon, Cebu’s Lloyd Go, and Art Arbole.

Also vying in the event, organized and conducted by NGAP, is Junior World champion JR Gonzales.

Other titles to be disputed in the three-day event, which features the foursome, four-ball and aggregate format, are the Group II (minimum handicap of 5.1), and Group III (mid-amateur, 40 years old) and ladies division.

Group I is restricted to players with handicap index 5.0 or lower. No two members of the national team which represented the country in the SEA Games, Asian Games, Putra Cup, Lion City Cup, and World Amateur can make a team.

The novel tournament, tipped to generate interest and lure the country’s leading players, will have the foursomes (alternate shot) in the first day and four-balls (best-ball) in the second round. The final round will have the combined aggregate of the team.

The NGAP said the doubles tilt will be held every December to give those based in the US the chance to compete in national tournaments and gain ranking points.

Carlos, a golf scholar in the US, is taking advantage of the holiday break to compete with his peers in the upcoming tournament.

The event also serves as tune-up for the country’s leading players competing in
the 2012 Philippine Amateur Open golf championships slated Jan. 5 to 8 at the Canlubang Golf and Country Club in Laguna which features a slew of foreign players.