CLOSE to 250 participants are expected to vie for honors and attractive prizes are at stake in the 11th Phoenix Open golf tournament that will tee off on March 16 at Rancho Palos Verdes Golf and Country Club.

Tournament organizer Liloh Evangelista said amateur players including VIPs from here and abroad are coming.

"We usually have the same players every year, they are our regulars. But every year we have different champions," she said in a press conference at Sundays Modern Home Cooking in Lanang, Davao City Monday, March 4.

Evangelista added, "This is the best golf tournament in Mindanao in terms of participation, prizes and quality of what players get from the event."

A whopping cash prize of P1 million, a Harley-Davidson 2019 Sportster Iron 883, two Tata Manza Petrol cars and P100,00 worth of Phoenix Petroleum fuels and lubricants await hole-in-one winner/s.

Registration is pegged at P7,500 per player inclusive of a Rudy Project golf shirt and cap, a special Phoenix edition golf bag travel cover and a Phoenix golf umbrella. A registrant can already play in team, partner and individual categories.

Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. corporate affairs manager Ben Sur, for his part, said the annual golfest is a fund-raiser for the Phoenix Philippines Foundation.

"We already have 30 adopted schools nationwide. We also have greening, outreach and health programs and disaster relief. The event helps raise funds for the sustainability of these projects," Sur said.

Lawyer Raymond Zorilla, PPPI vice-president for external affairs and business development, also said that aside from golf and basketball, they also supported the Europe stint of Asian Games skateboarding gold medalist Margielyn Didal.

Publicly-listed PPPI owns the PBA team Phoenix Fuel Masters.