FOR Junior World champion Jed Dy sets out for back-to-back National Doubles Amateur Golf Championship crown with new partner Mikha Fortuna as the tournament fires off on Friday at Camp Aguinaldo Golf Club.
Dy and Asian Games bronze medalist Bianca Pagdanganan ran away with a seven-stroke romp last year over Josh Jorge and Jet Hernandez.
Fortuna is also a solid player, a member of the Univ. of Oklahoma squad who has won a number of junior tournaments abroad.
Pagdanganan, meanwhile, is now busy priming up for her LPGA Tour debut next month, boosting her stock by winning the individual gold medal in the Southeast Games to power the Philippine to the team championship.
Also in the 20-team cast are Indonesian Amateur Open titlist Luis Castro and Sean Ramos, members of the Philippine SEAG bronze medal team, teaming up with Andres Lorenzo and Gabby Macalaguim, respectively, in the three-day event sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation and organized by the National Golf Association of the Philippines.
Focus will also be on the women’s pairs, led by reigning Philippine Junior Amateur (match play and stroke play) champion Rianne Malixi and Precious Zaragosa, Laurea Duque and Eagle Ace Superal, Tomita Arejola and Nicole Abelar, and Sam Martirez and Diana Araneta.
Others in the field are Rald Sarmiento-Masaichi Otake, Paolo Barro-Jeff Jung, Zachary Castro-Miguel Ilas, Luigi Guerrero and Dan Cruz, Aldo Barro-Ivan Monsalve, Jonas Austria-Marco Olives, and Santino Diokno-Miguel Roque.
The field plays the four-ball (best ball) format in the first round with action shifting to aggregate on Saturday. Sunday’s final round will feature the two-ball foursomes.
Aside from the centerpiece Group I for members of national team and for players with handicap index of 4.0 or less, also on tap are the Group 2 (4.1 and above) and Group III (players 30-years-old-and-above regardless of handicap).
Leading the Group II cast are Franco Rivera-Mark Rivera, Gabby Rosca-Reese Ng, Christian Acero-Joseph Orbito, Sophia Blanco-Alexi Blanco, and Larry Patnongon-Jaime Patnongon while the pairs of Dexter Pelia-Titus Aguilar, Allan Rubrica-Dennis Nicomedes, Jimmy Suelo-Romeo Lopez, and Ricky Velasco-Ramon Capistrano lead the Group III field.
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