SILANG, Cavite. – An early jostle for position takes shape as the Philippine Golf Tour resumes Tuesday with the ICTSI Riviera Championship, a four-day duel not just of power and shotmaking but also of will and character at one of the country’s tough championship courses.
Measuring up to more than 7,000 yards, Riviera’s Langer course has been a boon for a few but a bane for a lot of others. But it’s not just a question of length but of strategies, including course management since a slight miscue could lead to a big score given the limited options for recovery at the tight, hazard-laden layout.
“If the wind blows, then it’s going to be real tough,” said Guido Van der Valk after Monday’s pro-am held side by side with the Ladies PGT.
But the Manila-based Dutchman, who pulled off a stirring playoff win over Miguel Tabuena at Splendido Taal last May, faces a real challenge right in the first round of the P2 million championship put up by ICTSI as he drew Juvic Pagunsan and Angelo Que with Joenard Rates completing one of the featured flights at 9:40 a.m. on No. 1.
Pagunsan, who ruled this event in stormy conditions in 2019 to cap a record four-tournament run, and Que are both coming off the Japan Golf Tour, making them A-ready for the grueling battle with Rates also raring to upstage the troika with his own brand of play.
Pagunsan and Que actually marked their PGT return with a joint fourth place finish at Eagle Ridge-Aoki last July ruled by absentee Michael Bibat and both are eager to get going, along with the rest of the competing field that also includes former Philippine Open Clyde Mondilla, multi-titled Tony Lascuña, Caliraya Springs leg champion Zanieboy Gialon, Jhonnel Ababa, Jay Bayron, Jobim Carlos and young guns Ivan Monsalve and Sean Ramos.
