Tough Valley South hosts LPGT leg

Valley Golf South, one of the toughest courses north of the metro, will be the site of the next Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT) event where 20 of the country’s finest take part in the 54-hole, P750,000 seventh leg of the circuit.

The site of two Philippine Opens and never before played by the ladies of the tour, the South course is a brutal test considering its narrow fairways and tricky greens as the seasoned Chihiro Ikeda comes in as the favorite in the Sept. 7 to Sept. 9 event.

Artemio Murakami won the last Open there in 2010, an all-Filipino version, which came 19 years after American Dennis Paulson won over Taiwanese Chen Tze Chung in sudden death.

The South course is one of the more revered layouts in the country because of its demanding design, but Ikeda, who has won two of the last four stops, said the small field will be up to the challenge.

“It will indeed be a different kind of challenge [at Valley] but we have prepared long and hard for the LPGT resumption, so we expect good competition,” said Ikeda, who ruled the Eagle Ridge Invitational last July and the Mt. Malarayat leg a couple of months before.

Tagaytay Highlands winner Sunshine Baraquiel, just weeks after returning from a failed stint in Ladies Professional Golf Association Qualifying in the United States and Harmie Constantino are the other notables in the field.