Some 100 junior golfers in the country will tee off for the first ever 2022 Oliver Gan Junior Golf Fellowship Invitational Sunday, Aug. 21, at The Riviera Golf Club in Silang, Cavite.
Gan, former adviser for golf at the Games and Amusements Board (GAB), said his primary reason in staging the tournament is for the development of junior golfers of Xavier School and De La Salle University – both his alma maters.
“We always want to help in the development of their golfers. But at the same time, it’s my way of helping the development of junior golf in our country. As a former junior golfer, we want to see them excel in tournaments here and abroad,” said Gan.
Some of the best Filipino players in junior golf are expected to compete, including Celine Abalos, Stevie Umali, Zach Villoraman, Elysse Co, Mika Arroyo, Zach Castro, Monique Arroyo, Tyler Zamuco, Patrick Tambaque and Rianne Malixi.
Also joining the tournament set to tee off at 10 a.m. are the Gan-Gaisano sisters Nicole and Stephanie, Bree Macasaet, Gabriele See, Anya Cedo, Juliana Ong, Martina Oben, Rafael Ley, Armand Copok, Venice Tiamsic and Shinichi Suzuki.
According to Gan, the said event also serves as a qualifying meet for the coming Thailand Junior Golf Championship after the Thailand Golf Association personally offered him spots for the competition.
“After this first tournament, we’ll see if we can have another one to know who would be included (to the team) or who are qualified, because we want to send the best team, best players possible,” said Gan, a former program officer for NCR at the Philippine Sports Institute (PSI), a branch of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
Gan said the event, which gives free on tournament fees to all participating golfers, would not be made possible without the main backer of the event, Riviera golf club chairman Norman Legaspi.
Participants are limited to 100 junior golfers, but Han Gaisano-Gan, who is part of the organizing team, said other interested players have an opportunity to join in the second part of the tournament.
“Actually, when we reached 100, we told others who wanted to join that they could still join the next one. Because of the turnout of participants, it’s likely that we’ll have a second event,” said Gaisano-Gan.