RUPERT Zaragosa and Harmie Constantino set out as the favorites in their respective sides as the first MVPSF Visayas Regional Match Play Championship gets going today (Monday, April 4) at the Cebu Country Club in Cebu City.
The huge field, featuring the country’s top players and rising stars, vies in the 36-hole stroke eliminations in the first two days with the top 32 in the men’s division and the top 16 in the ladies side advancing to the knockout phase on Wednesday, according to the organizing National Golf Association of the Philippines.
Joining Zaragosa, a many-time junior champion and national titlist, in the hunt for match play berths are Gilbert Gamolo, Gab Manotoc, Mark Dy, Bayani Garcia, Jolo Magcalayo, Jovi Neri, Chepe Dulay and Mark Sarmiento along with Harvey Sytiongsa, Marco Mendoza, Armand Guangko, Jufil Sato, Jaylord Abadilla, Nelson Yuvallos, Jojo Tiongko, Daniel Yap and Jefferson Rivera.
Constantino, on the other hand, looms as the player to beat in the ladies side owing to her runaway triumph in the recent NGAP Philippine Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Eagle Ridge.
But a host of local aces will be out to foil her bid, guaranteeing a fierce battle in both categories of the week-long event sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation, Smart, PLDT, Metro Pacific Invesments Corp. and the Philippine Sports Commission and held as part of the PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour.
LK Go, Mirasol Panong, Riko Nagai and Mariestela Borres along with Jona Magcalayo, Junia Gabasa, Grace Quintanilla, Kristine Torralba, Renafe Arnado, Wilma Fantonial and Divina Lapasaran are the other players to watch in the ladies section of the event which also kicks off a series of NGAP tournaments.
