Thailand aces in PH Ladies Open

MANILA, Philippines—Thailand will be sending a crack squad made up of veterans and young stars to vie for top honors in the 50th staging of the Philippine Ladies Open that tees off Jan. 11 at the fabled Wack Wack East course in Mandaluyong.

Led by Southeast Asian Games silver medalist Pinrath Loomboonruang, the Thais will also be represented by several standouts of their junior program.

Loomboonruang, who is also the reigning champion in the Santi Cup, the ladies side of the Southeast Asia Amateur Golf Team Championship, tries to become just the third Thai to win the 54-hole event after Rika Dila in 1984 and Yupaporn Kawinpakorn in 2007.

Champion Infinity is the tournament’s title sponsor.

Registration in the Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines event is still ongoing. Tournament fee is P7,000 or $170 and deadline for listing is Dec. 30. For inquiries, log on to www.wgap-golf.com, or e-mail [email protected], or text or call 0908-8810366 or (632) 8460973 (fax).

Duty Free Philippines, the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Daily Inquirer are gold sponsors.
The 50th holding of the event has also drawn entries from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Netherlands and the United States.

Class A and Class B competitions are also on tap as the organizing WGAP expects a banner field.

Chihiro Ikeda sets out as the spearhead of the local charge as she guns for a repeat of her six-shot victory at The Country Club last year.

The reigning Thailand Ladies Open champion, who also won the Johor Am and the Royal Selangor Open, will try to become the first back-to-back winner of the event since Heidi Chua in 2002-03.