Wednesday, November 14, 2007 Over 400 golfers tee up for Mabuhay Miles Elite Tournament
OVER 400 golfers—comprising company presidents, CEOs, top professionals and other captains of business and industry – will tee off Nov. 16 for the 2007 Mabuhay Miles Elite Invitational golf tournament at the Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club in Gen. Trias, Cavite.
Dubbed “Make a Solid Impact,” the one-day tournament will be held for the second straight year at the sprawling Eagle Ridge compound, the largest golf facility in the country.
To accommodate the large turnout, three of Eagle Ridge’s four world-caliber championship courses will be utilized for the tournament.
Competition will be in four handicap divisions for the men plus the ladies division. Class A and the ladies will play at the Dye course, Classes B and D will tour the Faldo course, while Class C will tackle the Norman course.
The 18-hole event—an annual gathering of Elite and Premier Elite members of Mabuhay Miles, the frequent-flyer program of Philippine Airlines—will be played under the System 36 handicapping format.
Among the confirmed players are Edgardo Legarda, president of DBS Bank; Oscar Reyes, chairman of Pilipinas Shell; Alberto Villarosa, president of Security Bank; Alberto Lina, chairman of U-Freight Philippines; Cebu’s Justin Uy, president of Profood International Corp.; and Davao’s Guilbert Go, president of Mintrade Corp.
Last year, Larry Tojino, CEO of Veincare Clinic, scored a gross 75 to emerge low gross champion, while businessman Valeriano “Bones” Floro carded a net 69 to take overall net honors.
Both are back to defend their titles this year. Stiff competition is expected to come from former champion Tom Culligan of Los Angeles, who has the lowest handicap in the field, and Manila-based businessmen Augusto de Jesus and Ernie Yap, who both also tote single-digit handicaps.
Past winners Lucio Tan, Jr., Stewart Go and Manny Villamil are all also fancied to contend for honors.
Organized by PAL, the Mabuhay Miles Elite Invitational is backed by major sponsors Airbus, Boeing, Callaway Golf, Eton Properties, GE Aviation, HSBC, Nokia and Petron.
The corporate sponsors are Allied Bank, American Express Bank, Citibank, Department of Tourism, GE Capital Aviation Services, KID-Systeme, Messier-Bugatti, Panasonic Avionics Corp. and Thales Aerospace Asia.
A top-of-the-line luxury vehicle courtesy of Toyota Motor Philippines is at stake for a hole-in-one. Century Park Hotel is the official hotel while Philam Insurance Company is the official insurer.
Other backers are OSIM, Pacific Paints Philippines (Boysen), Pharmaton, Spring and Union Bank of the Philippines.
The prize donors include Air BP, British India/Esprit/GII, Fridays Boracay, Guam Visitors Bureau, Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort, Pan Pacific Manila, Samsonite, Tanduay and TIME. (PR)
