The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has high hopes the inaugural golf tournament will be successful as it kicks off 20 May at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong City.

NCAA management committee member Atty. Jonas Cabochan of San Beda University said during the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) forum Tuesday that alumni are welcome to join team events as long as they don’t play professionally.

It will be a six-to-play, four-to-count event using the Stableford scoring system, with each school allowed to field a non-professional alumnus.

Teams that cannot form a team are allowed to field entries for the individual play.

“The format of the tournament includes both team and individual competitions. Since this is the first time, some schools may not yet have full teams, so they can still participate in the open category,” Cabochan said.

“Each team may include one alumnus or two graduate students, or six undergraduate students. This setup is meant to encourage alumni support and help schools develop golf programs.”

Mancomm chairman Melchor Divina of Mapua University said the success of the golf tournament is vital as they want the sport to be a regular fixture.