The 74th Philippine Airlines Interclub golf championships of 2023 in Cebu City started with the senior‘s team Friendship Division last February 23 with six teams from Vancouver.
These are the CANPHIL GOLF ASSOCIATION, PINOY VANCOUVER GOLF CLUB, PAR BREAKERS, EZ PAR GOLF CLUB, VANCITY GOLF CLUB TEAM 2 and FILCANSA GOLF CLUB.
On the first day on February 23 at the Club Filipino, CanPhil Golf Association headed by Eduardo Hernandez scored 43, Larry Navasca, 39, Ben Edra, 30 and Ernesto Asprer, 16, and broke away by 11 strokes against the second placer Malaysian Eagle Hunters and bounced back on the second day by 25 strokes then maintained the lead up to the fourth day final round with 27 strokes and won the Friendship Title in the Senior Team.
Pinoy Vancouver Golf Club headed Veteran golfer Rene Bahena placed 10th, Par Breakers at 11th place, EZ Par Golf Club placed 13th, VanCity Golf Club Team 2 finished 16th placer, and Filcansa on 25th place.
In the leadup to the tournament, the Manila Standard newspaper reported that more than 1,500 players representing 178 squads were expected to converge next week for the 74th Philippine Airlines Interclub golf team championships in Cebu City.
The Seniors’ event has drawn a total of 100 teams, nearly half coming from the United States, Canada, the Middle East, and Malaysia, and others.
Alta Vista and Club Filipino de Cebu will play host to the four-round event, which uses the Molave scoring system that awards 3 points for par.
Twenty-one international teams are among 75 clubs entered in the tournament that is adopting the PAL scoring system.
Hosting the regular Men’s event are Cebu Country Club and Club Filipino de Cebu.
Cebu City last hosted the Interclub in 2019.
The annual PAL Interclub, considered the country’s unofficial national team championship, was shelved for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 74th staging of the event is supported by ABS-CBN Global, Asian Journal, Airbus, and NuStar Resort and Casino.
Gold sponsors include Radio Mindanao Network, Mastercard, Primax, University of Mindanao Broadcasting Network, PLDT/Smart, and Konsulta MD.
Joining the event also as sponsors are Philippine National Bank, Biocostech, and VISA.
Minor sponsors are Bollore Logistics, Manila Standard, Tanduay Brands International, and Asia Brewery while donors are Department of Tourism, Ogawa, Newport World Resorts, Rolls Royce, and Boeing.