By Adriano Flores | Inquirer Golf | July-August 2014 issue
Worldwide attention beckons for Manila Southwoods when it hosts the country’s first $1 million event, the Resorts World Manila Masters presented by 918.com.
Renowned agent Andrew “Chubby” Chandler, in an interview with Golf Digest, three years ago, expects that in 15 years, 50 percent of the names on the leader boards in the biggest events are going to be Asians.
Chandler, founder of the International Sports Management Company, is foreseeing exceptional male players from Korea and China, where there are a billion people and golf is fast-growing industry.
Well, that 15 years could actually be shortened with Filipino golfers on the radar as well, most especially with the forthcoming Resorts World Manila Masters, a full-field Asian Tour tournament in November.
Resorts World Manila, in partnership with 918.com, is hiking the total prize money to an impressive $1 million, which would make the Manila Masters the biggest pro event in the Philippines in two months.
“It’s amazing. We are talking of a tournament with the biggest purse. It will be great for the Philippine golf,” said Chairman Robert John Sobrepeña of host Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club.
Sobrepeña clearly remembers the trials last year when Supertyphoon Haiyan (Yolanda) ravaged many parts of the country one week before the first Manila Masters, which carried a prize kitty of $750,000.
Despite the challenges, he was extremely happy with the turnout, with the event raising money for the typhoon victims, and the winner, China’s Liang Wen-chong, donating half of his winnings to the fund.
“We made the best out of the situation in 2013. We assembled the best team and was able to help a lot of the people through donations especially to those directly hit by Haiyan,” he said.
With the increased pot, he is anticipating top starts from the Asian Tour, and maybe some from the European Tour may be lured in.
Angelo Que and Tony Lascuna playing with Jason Day? It may soon be a reality. A global perspective is inevitable, with the local pros as benefactors.
“Our golfers really have the talent to be at par with the world’s best.” chimed in Southwoods’ board of director member Freddie Mendoza.
Better Course
As for the Southwoods’ Masters course, Mendoza, also the house committee chair, said the club is refreshing the par-72 layout in terms of condition and playability in preparation for the Manila Masters and future big tournaments.
After all, the Manila Masters will call Southwoods as its home in the next four years.
And to guide them through, noted designer John Cope–backed by more than 30 years of golf course designing experience–was hired as grounds director. Cope was part of Jack Nicklaus’ Golden Bear team, which designed the Masters.
“His expertise and familiarity of the course will speed up the process of upgrade,” Mendoza said.
For a while, the club has not been active on the local scene. But with all the plans laid out in the next few years, the ultimate aim is to bring Southwoods back to what it was–one of the very best in Asia.
Southwoods carries an impressive record, having hosted the Eisenhower Cup (World Amateur), several Philippine Opens, and had been voted among the top 100 courses outside the United States in 1999.
“The instruction is to return to that status (as one of the best outside the US),” the club’s general manager Mark Watson stated.
Discovering New Talent
While the country’s professionals have a stable local tour to speak of, Sobrepeña is set to intensify his efforts once more to assist the top amateurs through Southwoods’ facilities.
In the early 1990s, the Southwoods program was rewarded as a farm for promising amateurs. Que, Lascuna, Jay Bayron, Artemio Murakami, and Rey Pagunsan were part of this in the past.
All have to date established themselves on the Asian Tour and ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour.
“Now is the right time to discover new talents. We want to continue what we have started before,” Sobrepeña stressed.
Currently, the club is helping out the ICTSI program helmed by Bong Lopez although all of the members are ladies. “We hope to see and develop male stars. And kids, too, to cover all bases,” he added.
