Ardina sees tough Ladies Masters road
Dottie Ardina took a long, hard look at the Summit Point layout in Lipa on Tuesday, played the Pro-Am and won, before giving an honest assessment of how things could go when the ICTSI Philippine Ladies Masters gets going.
“It’s not going to be a birdie-fest,” the Paris Olympian Ardina told the Inquirer when asked what the winning score could be in the $200,000 (around P11.6 million) championship. “The strategy this week would be more of positioning your shots.”
Ardina, who made just three birdies on a windy day, is easily the most celebrated Filipino in the 126-strong field littered with prime talents from Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea and Japan.
“And the winds blew hard today, so if we get more of the same [the rest of the week], it’s going to be very tough,” added Ardina, who admitted not being able to practice so much because she acts as caretaker to her dad, Ed, lately.
Stacked
“He needs care,” Ardina, who finished inside the top 15 in the Paris Games in 2024, said of her father, the man who taught her the game at Canlubang, and who turns 82 on Feb. 11. “He needs care that I am just willing to give.”
The 32-year-old leads a stacked PH contingent that will see action in the 54-hole event in a rare appearance on home soil for a major tournament.
Pauline del Rosario and Princess Superal, also seasoned international campaigners with regular stints in the United States and Japan, Chanelle Avaricio, Daniella Uy, Florence Bisera and Mafy Singson are among the other notable Filipinos entered.
