National doubles amateur unfolds at Aguinaldo

The country’s top rising players hope to turn in strong performances coming off the holiday break as they clash in the eighth National Doubles Amateur Golf Championship firing off Thursday at Camp Aguinaldo Golf Club.

Don Petil seeks to defend the crown with a new partner in JR Salahug but they expect a tough challenge from a field toughened by the presence of Asian Games bronze medalist Bianca Pagdanganan, a noted team player who helped anchor the Philippines’ gold medal feat in team competition in the recent Asiad in Jakarta.

Pagdanganan, also a former Philippine Ladies Amateur Open winner, will have former Junior World champion Jed Dy as teammate, making them one of the pairs to watch in the three-day tournament sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation and organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines.

Others tipped to contend for the crown in NGAP’s season-ending tournament are the tandems of Jet Hernandez-Josh Jorge, Kristine Torralba-Santino Laurel, Ivan Monsalve-Aldo Barro and Paqo Barro-Jeff Jung.

Sean Ramos, winner of the Cangolf Am Open and Northern Luzon Regional Championship, also hopes to close out the season with another win, tapping Gabby Macalaguim as partner in the event which features four-ball (best ball), aggregate and foursomes (alternate shot) formats.

The field plays the four-ball format Thursday with action shifting to aggregate on Friday.