The future of Philippine golf will be put on display this week at The Country Club (TCC) in the ICTSI Junior PGT National Match Play Finals starting on Wednesday, and two renowned Filipino coaches believe that a tournament like this will serve the young players well in the future.

“Playing match against an opponent is very different from stroke play,” Norman Sto. Domingo, whose foremost protege is US Girls and US Women’s Amateur champion Rianne Malixi, told the Inquirer over the phone. “Those kids will learn how to strategize, which would be an integral part of their careers moving forward.”

A total of eight champions in four age brackets will be known by Friday as 62 participants filtered through five months of play in all of the three Philippine islands play 18 holes of stroke for position on Wednesday before battling KO style starting on Thursday.

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Developing character

And Bong Lopez, whose products include LPGA winner Jennifer Rosales and former PH Open champ Angelo Que, believes that tournaments like these are perfect for the young players.

“This is where they develop character,” Lopez said in a different interview. “There’s a golf saying that your greatest opponent is yourself and you play the course. In a match play, it’s one-on-one against somebody.

“You need to strategize and you need to hold your nerves. And in doing that, you develop character.” he said.

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Another layer of the challenge is navigating the TCC course, which is one of the toughest layouts in the country.

Domingo said that another thing players can learn in match is gamesmanship, something that they would need in finishing off foes in stroke play in the closing holes.

“There are a lot of things those kids can learn in a straight-up match, like playing at a pace like your opponent, or how one can throw an opponent off his pace, etc.,” said Domingo.

Fatigue will also be a factor with the semifinals and finals to be played on Friday. INQ