MANILA, 25 May 2006 — Nothing unfair.
With the length of the course not expected to be too much of a factor for the 90th Philippine Open field, the greens, which will be Wack Wack East’s last line of defense, will make or break anyone’s title dreams starting today.
But this doesn’t mean that the pins will be tucked in all the ridiculous places, unlike in RP Opens of the past which saw the putting surfaces of the fabled layout become the graveyard of many an aspiring champion’s dreams.
“The pins will be placed in fair places,” assured tournament director Boy Blue Ocampo of the Asian PGA Tour.
The East course’s greens, most of them very small and undulating, have been — as proven by history — notoriously hard to conquer.
And they will be the only things that will stand in the way of the talent-laden field that is looking to post low numbers like in last year’s edition when Aussie Adam Le Vesconte assembled a 12-under-par card to win at the Malarayat layout in Lipa City.
Players these days hit the ball a mile off the tee, and the East course being an old layout, it’s fairway bunkers in most holes don’t come into play anymore.
But tee-shot placements will be a premium as not all long holes require driver, especially the par-4 No. 9, where players usually play safe and are left with 200-yard second shots.
Another thing which makes the East course a unique championship venue is that the par-72 layout only has one par-5 and one par-3 in each of its 36-36 nines, and the par-3s are two of the toughest anyone can find in the Philippines.
Number 8, the famous “Camel Back” that will play to just slightly over 160 yards, requires utmost precision off the mound, as a slightly misplaced tee shot can easily result in a double bogey with bunkers guarding almost all sides of the green.
The back nine’s only par-3 is a small, downhill target from almost 200 yards that plays almost always against the wind.
Meanwhile, the players earned a break of sorts after heavy rains pelted the course yesterday and Ocampo said that he might order play from preferred lies at least for the first two rounds. The Philippine Open is the oldest national professional golf championship in Asia and offers a total pot of $200,000.
Several Filipinos are entered, including Juvic Pagunsan, who will play in only his second professional tournament on local soil after winning his first and only local start — the rich The Country Club Invitational last February.
Pagunsan was the low amateur in the last two editions of the Open and he actually contended for the overall title, losing by slim margins each time. “The key, I think, is not to be too greedy, especially on a course like Wack Wack,” Pagunsan told Arab News in Filipino, moments after practice round was suspended yesterday because of lightning and heavy rains. “We (Filipino bets) have good chances of winning,” he added. “Playing the course right will be crucial. You can’t play reckless in this course.”
Aside from Pagunsan, the other notable Filipinos are former winners Cassius Casas, Robert Pactolerin and Gerald Rosales, brother of LPGA star Jennifer.
Gerald finished a fighting second to Le Vesconte last year, fumbling on two crucial holes in the back nine to throw away the tournament. “It was a lesson learned,” Rosales said. “I don’t think I’ll make the same mental mistakes I made last year. But still, it’s a wide open race, the course being so difficult.”
Le Vesconte feels that, because of the rains softening up the fairways and the tricky greens, a 10-under par card after four rounds would be enough to win the tournament.
“Considering how the weather has been the past couple of days, we can see good scoring out here,” Le Vesconte said.
A slew of Le Vesconte’s fellow Aussies, a handful of Americans and a standout Canadian who calls the Philippines home — Rick Gibson —are also entered in the event serving as the 17th leg of the much-improved Asian Tour.
