Tom Kim eyed for Phl Open: Manila Southwoods says it will tap current, former players

Manila Southwoods is hoping to lure PGA Tour sensation Tom Kim to join the revival of the Philippine Open in January.

“We have been given four spots which we intend to use for our current and former players, one of whom is Tom Kim,” said Manila Southwoods general manager Jayson Yu at the sidelines of the third PSA Cup on Monday. “We will try to have Tom here.”

Another player Southwoods is eyeing is Japan Tour regular and Tokyo Olympian Juvic Pagunsan who has not played a major local tournament here.

Close to 30 Filipinos are expected to see action in the $500,000 event slated for 23-26 January after an absence of six years. It will serve as the kickoff leg of the Asian Tour.

The last time the Open was part of the Asian Tour was in 2015 won by Miguel Tabuena.

The Carmona, Cavite course closed four holes at the Masters course to give way to repairs.

Storm “Kristine” wrought havoc on holes 4, 5, 6 and 7, sending tons of debris. Some trees were uprooted, according to Yu.

“This is a perennial problem we face every typhoon,” said Yu, adding they have been coordinating with the local government to mitigate the damage.

He said they are rushing work in time for the Chairman’s Charity Cup on 14 November.

The three-day event is expected to draw 500 club members who will play a single round spread over three days.

There will be individual and team competitions. Two members form a team. The modified Stableford format would be used. The team winner will be determined by the players’ aggregate scores.

A Mitsubishi XForce GLS 1.5G and a Toyota Raize will be raffled off to participants.

The cars were donated by the sponsoring MMPC and Alpine Motors Corp. and Toyota Silang, Cavite.

Among the major raffle prize is a 7-night Mexican Riviera Cruise for two inclusive of air fare (Manila-Los Angeles-Manila) donated by RCI and Baron Travel.

A brand-new vehicle put up by Hyundai Motor Philippines tops the list of hole-in-one prizes.

An Ogawa massage chair, one of the hole-in-one prizes, will also be raffled off in the event no one scores an ace.

The other hole-in-one prize donors are Time Golf Corp. (K & G), MF Electric Golf Carts, Global Matrix Concept Group Inc., and Gamboa and Sons Inc.

Junjun Plana is the defending men’s low gross champion while Marty Ilagan and Lora Roberto will defend the seniors and women’s low gross titles, respectively.

The event’s platinum sponsors are Atlas Circuits Inc., Leads Agri/Malveda Properties and Dev. Corp., San Miguel Corp. and Turf Company.

The gold sponsors are Abomar Equipment Sales Corp., Agrexplore Corp., and Coca Cola Bottlers Phils. Inc. while the silver sponsors are Aqua Terra Integrated Solutions Inc., Centro Manufacturing Corp., Rep. Dino Tanjuatco III, Federal Land NRE Global Inc., Januarius Holding Inc., Le Chef, MRT Dev. Corp., Prestige Golf Access and Clubshares Inc. and The Manor at CJH/The Forest Lodge at CJH.