A veritable survival of the fittest will be the norm two weeks from now when The Country Club (TCC) Invitational, the richest tournament in local golf, gets off the ground with a lean but mean field taking part.

Antonio Lascuña, who won the Philippine Golf Tour’s Order of Merit title last year at 53 years old, shoots for a repeat—and a third title overall—starting on Jan. 28 against the very best of the local tour last season, counting Angelo Que, the reigning PH Masters champ who will be shooting for a record fourth title at windswept TCC.

A cool P2 million will be taken home by the winner, who will have to grind it out at possibly the toughest test in the country, with the TCC known not only for its sheer length but also its very tricky, lightning-fast greens.

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The 72-hole event will be played the week after the Smart Infinity Philippine Open at Manila Southwoods, which will make sure that everyone entered at TCC will be coming in sharp with the Asian Tour event also to be a challenging one.

Patience will be a premium at TCC as practically every hole demands precision on every shot, especially approaches at the right spots on the greens.

Proof of this was the 13-over 301 winning total of Miguel Tabuena, the prodigious multileg winner on the Asian Tour.

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The course also has one of the most dramatic finishing holes in all of Asia—especially at this time of year when the winds blow hardest—with the water-laced 18th claiming the chances of so many in past editions.