BAGUIO CITY—Manila Southwoods eyes history as it goes for an unprecedented 10^th straight Fil Championship division title in the 74^th Januarius Fil Am invitational to be held at the Baguio Country Club and Camp John Hay courses this week here.

Leading the charge for Southwoods are Fil-British Enrique Dimayuga, the reigning Putra Cup individual champion, and fellow national pool members Jet Hernandez and Shinichi Suzuki. Coby Rolida and Miko Granada complete the star-studded roster of the multi-titlists.

Despite having a strong team, team captain Thirdy Escaño acknowledges that other teams such as Eastridge, Januarius, SPES and Time Cargo Logistics, have beefed up their line-ups to give Southwoods a deeper challenge.

“Definitely, the competition this year is gonna be tough and exciting just like in last year’s tournament. We are fully prepared and ready to play,” Escaño said.

Eastridge, runner-up to Southwoods in 2023, has a formidable troop as well, starring Jeffren Lumbo, Jhondie Quibol, Bobe Salahog, Ronel Taga-an—prized finds from the provinces—and new recruit Don Bregente.

“We can’t wait to get going. We are excited to compete,” explains Eastridge general manager Gimo Asuncion, adding: “The main reason we started our program is to give opportunities to young golfers from the provinces to showcase their talents in big events like the Fil Am.”

Januarius Private Equity, which placed third previously, has an almost intact crew of Jet Mathay, Terence Macatangay, Ray Sangil, Ayon Sanchez and Kirby Lachica. Masaichi Otake is the newest addition.

SPES-1 is a mix of players from Valley Golf, Cebu and Bacolod with Marvin Mendoza, Bayani Garcia, Mark Dy, Justin Limjap, Jacob Cajita and Eduardo Puyat.

Actor/golfer Derek Ramsay spearheads Time Cargo alongside Ruel Cabral, Jun Plana, Justin Tambunting and jungolfer Emilio Hernandez.