HWANG Min Jeong, a young Korean star who eclipsed the pros in the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour last year, banners the ladies cast in the Philippine Amateur Stroke Play Open Golf Championship teeing off on Tuesday at the Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club’s Aoki course in General Trias, Cavite.
The 14-year-old Hwang, a ninth grader at Holy Infant School in Muntinlupa, topped the Mt. Malarayat leg of the ICTSI LPGT last year.
Regina de Guzman and Cassy Isagawa, who teamed up to rule last week’s National Doubles Amateur, are also among the title favorites along with Malaysia’s Nur Durriyah Damian and Genevieve Ling I-Rynn, Koreans Koh Euna and Jang Yoon Ji from Riviera and Lee Eun Kyung from Valley Golf.
National team mainstay Harmie Constantino is also seeing action along with Weifang Gao, Junia Gabasa, LK Go, Kristine Torralba, Laja Barro, Jona Magcalayo, Riko Nagai, and Koreans Jeong Su Ji and Jeon Hye Rim.
Pro-bound Jobim Carlos and national junior champion Rupert Zaragosa headline the men’s field that also includes Tom Ferguson of the US, Korea’s Sim Seung Jae, Kim Yong Uk, Ko Myeong Hun, Jun Jhon, Lee Geon, Lim Soo Min, Yang Ju Young and Kang Dong Guk, Singaporeans Joshua Shou and Jeryl Tan, Japanese Toshinori Iwasaki, Christian Boshoff, Lee Ji Hyeon and Conor Earl Morley.
Other Filipinos tipped to contend for the crown in the event organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines and serving as the kickoff leg of this year’s PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour and sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation, Smart, PLDT and Metro Pacific Investment Corp. are Jelbert Gamolo, Carlo Gatmaytan, Jama Reyes, Wei Wei Gao, Weiyu Gao, Migs Guerrero, Rocky Brobio, Bong Brobio, Jolo Magcalayo, GH Katigbak, Aidric Chan, Ira Alido Ivan Monsalve, Ryan Monsalve and Inigo Raymundo.