TOP local players try to defend home turf while some of the best from around the world hope to steal the spotlight as the Asian Tour goes to Wack Wack Golf and Country Club for the $300,000 Solaire Open from April 11 to 14.
The event, serving as the seventh leg of the Asian Tour, will feature 150 players with former Asian Tour No. 1 Juvic Pagunsan and former two-time Philippine Open champions Frankie Miñoza and Angelo Que heading the local challenge. Pagunsan is coming off a joint runner-up finish in the Jakarta PGA Championship of the One Asia Tour.
The four-day championship, which is expected to draw players from across Asia, the US, Canada and South Africa, will also be held in conjunction with the recent launch of the country’s newest resort casino in Entertainment City, Pasay.
“Wack Wack’s hosting of the Solaire Open not only promotes the game of golf but also advances the Philippines as an international sports venue,” said WWGCC president Philip Ella Juico.
Members of the host club will also participate in the traditional pro-am event April 9, Araw ng Kagitingan, with Wack Wack breaking a tradition by allowing a tournament to be held on a national holiday.
“This is also part of Wack Wack’s continuing effort to contribute and acknowledge its responsibility to help the sport of golf and to promote the Philippines as a tourist attraction,” said Juico.
Backing the Solaire Open are Prudential Life, Nescafe, Omega, Asahi, Panasonic, Johnnie Walker, Srixon, Pepsico, the Department of Tourism, Holiday Inn Galleria and Hyundai.