Banner foreign field expected in PH Ladies Open

The Philippines Ladies Open promises to hold another explosive staging next year with a stellar international cast joining the Feb. 18 to 20 event at Manila Golf Club inside posh Forbes Park in Makati City.

Top players from Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, Japan and the United States are coming to crowd the country’s leading players in the 54-hole championship, eager to end the locals’ domination.

After the Thais posted an imposing 1-2 finish through Pimnipa Panthong and Kanyalak Preedasutthjit in the 2015 edition at Wack Wack, Filipinos have since ruled with Princess Superal winning in 2016 at Tagaytay Midlands, Bianca Pagdanganan scoring a record victory in 2017, also at Wack Wack, and Yuka Saso sweeping the last two at Orchard and Manila Golf.

Meanwhile, registration is ongoing with the entry fee pegged at P10,000 for local participants and $300 for foreign entries. The amount is inclusive of one practice round with organizers also targeting to draw Class A and B players. For details/reservations, email to [email protected] or [email protected]. Entry forms can also be downloaded at www.wgap-golf.com.

Saso and Pagdanganan, along with Lois Kaye Go, went on to win the team gold in the Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018 with Saso bagging the individual crown. Pagdanganan had her chance to be the spearhead of the PH team in the Southeast Asian Games where she also won the individual gold.

But Superal has since moved to the pros while Pagdanganan and Saso are set to launch their pro debuts next year in different circuits abroad, leaving the likes of Junia Gabasa and young Rianne Malixi and Eagle Ace Superal as the likely spearheads of the host nation nest year.