Stronghold Open ushers in new era in Senior play
SAN PEDRO, Laguna—Senior pro golf enters a brand new and exciting era on Monday as a packed field with international sprinkling tees off at Hallow Ridge here, where multiround play comes to the fore for the first time with prize money never dangled before.
A merry band of former Philippine Open champions, Order of Merit (OOM) topnotchers in the regular men’s PGT and multiple ICTSI circuit leg winners banner two of the three divisions, with Antonio Lascuña headlining the stacked Senior (50-59) class chasing the top P150,000 prize.
“This is the birth of hopefully how senior pro events are handled (in the future),” Lascuña said in Filipino after a practice session at Manila Southwoods on Sunday. “A lot of us (senior pros) are very grateful. We now have something big to look forward to with this event.
“We’ve never had a tournament as big and handled as professionally as this,” added Lascuña, the only man to win the PGT’s OOM a record five times. He has slowly transitioned into senior play this year, even taking his act to Taiwan.
Cast of challengers
Mars Pucay, Elmer Salvador, Rico Depilo and Orlan Sumcad are the other fancied bets in the Senior class, even as former Open and Masters champion Robert Pactolerin, now 63, looms as the hands-down favorite to rule the Super Senior (60-69) class, where P100,000 is at stake.
Sumcad owns a win over Lascuña, when he pulled out a narrow one-stroke victory in an 18-hole event at Intramuros.
But Pactolerin believes that 54 holes will be a different battle: “Anything can happen in 54 holes,” Pactolerin said.
Sixty two-man teams in the Pro-Am get action going, with the pros taking their first round scores into Tuesday, before a cut of the top 50 percent of scores and ties are done after the second round. A Legends division for those who are 70-and-above will be played on Wednesday, with the champion to receive a handsome P50,000 check for 18 holes worth of work.
Seven foreigners, counting three Australians, are entered, five of them in the Senior class, as the tournament opened its doors to anyone in the ranks to make competition as tough as possible.
