Marapara holds key to Interclub victory
With rains pounding Bacolod in the past few days, it will be lift-clean-and-place on both courses when Seniors action in the 76th Philippine Airlines (PAL) Interclub gets going on Monday.
And from where Luisita nonplaying skipper Jeric Hechanova sits, that has made Marapara, where first and fourth round action will be held, the course that will decide this year’s champion.
“The course has just become longer because of the rains,” Hechanova told the Inquirer over the phone. “So I will have no choice but to play my longer hitters on those days because the sheer length of Marapara will just demand a lot from the players.”
Luisita is the winningest team in Senior Interclub history, and the squad is shooting for redemption this year after being almost a nonfactor last year in Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon where Del Monte won.
Manila Southwoods and Canlubang are the other top contenders in the Championship division, with Jun Jun Plana spearheading the Carmona-based squad and Abe Rosal bannering the charge of the Sugar Barons.
The favorite
Hechanova still sees Del Monte as the favorite to repeat because of its intact roster made of homegrown players.
“We are optimistic and confident,” Del Monte skipper Yoyong Velez had said in a previous interview. “This team has matured a lot and being intact, that has strong significance in our campaign.”
The middle two rounds will be played at Binitin in Murcia town, a layout Hechanova describes to be a “thinking player’s” course owing to its tight and bending fairways.
“If we are to contend for the title, we should have the lead entering the final day,” he said. “Because it will be hard to make up ground at Marapara in the final round. I’d rather we be playing in front rather than giving chase.”
