By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
TARLAC CITY – Veteran Angelo Que, Sean Ramos and Keanu Jahns spearhead the local charge when the DigiPlus Philippine ADT Open tees off at the Luisita Golf and Country Club here on Wednesday, June 17.
The 47-year-old Que, a three-time Asian Tour champion, tees off at the back nine at 11:50 a.m. along with Poom Pattaropong and Aman Raj.
Ramos, for his part, starts his campaign at 7:20 a.m. with Henry Chung and Nitithorn Thippong where he seeks a breakthrough this year after finishing tied for second in the ADT Players Championship in Malaysia last month.
Jahns, meanwhile, opens his bid at 12:25 p.m. with Thomas Plumb and Seung Park.
A total of 132 players that include 82 Asian Development Tour (ADT) professionals, 30 National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) players, six national team members and 14 invitees are competing in the 72-hole tournament that stakes $100,000 (around P6.1 million) total prize pool.
Singapore’s Nicklaus Chiam, the current ADT Order of Merit leader, also spearheads the field alongside fellow tour winners Amarin Kraivixien of Thailand and India’s Pukhraj Singh Gill.
Chiam is fresh from competing in the AM Green IGPL Morocco Rising Stars, where he missed the cut.
He boasts of winning the PKNS Selangor Masters last February.
Apart from the prize pool, the tournament also offers berths into the prestigious BingoPlus Philippine Open on the International Series later this year for the Top 2 Filipino finishers.
The tournament marks the sixth stop on the 13-event ADT calendar that spans seven countries that include Thailand, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. It also gives young Filipino standouts opportunities to compete against top pro players while gaining experience on a bigger stage.
