After busy two years, NGAP eyes bigger plans

Philippines’ Bianca Pagdanganan watches her drive from the 1st tee in round 3 of the women’s golf individual stroke play during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Kawagoe on August 6, 2021. (Photo by YOSHI IWAMOTO / AFP)

After a busy two years where it managed to reawaken its programs and activities, the National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) is now readying its resources to support the bids of Bianca Pagdanganan and Miguel Tabuena for tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Pagdanganan and Tabuena have been the top Filipino golfers in their divisions and the country’s brightest prospects for the Summer Games to be held in the glamorous French capital.

“The NGAP will be closely monitoring the performance of elite talents like Bianca Pagdanganan and Miguel Tabuena to ensure that they will enjoy the best possible support on their way to a possible stint in Paris,” the national federation said in a press release forward to media offices on Wednesday.

The NGAP has supercharged its postpandemic calendar over the last 26 months, bringing back to the country two major events—the APGC Junior Championships and the Nomura Cup. It also helped the country host the Queen Sirikit Cup, pooling together the best amateur golfers in the region.

Flexing muscles

“The success of these events were the fruits of our collaboration with external and internal partners which are so crucial in moving forward with our goals,” said NGAP president Martin Lorenzo.

Japan and Korea, traditional Asian golf powers, flexed their muscles in the Nomura and Queen Sirikit Cups, which were played at Manila Southwoods. Chinese-Taipei, meanwhile, ruled the boys and girls divisions of the AGPC Juniors. Those events exposed the country’s aces to tough foreign competition, an experience that can only help improve their skills.

Lorenzo said the next step is to keep the stable of Filipino aces competitive now that tournaments that had been shelved by the pandemic are starting to return to their regular spots in the golfing calendar.

According to the media release, the task of ensuring that challenge is met falls on new national team coach Abe Rosal, “who is supervising the progress of the national training pool together with Boyet Zaragosa.”