The ICTSI Champion Tour at the Splendido Taal Golf Club in Manila, Philippines will lift its curtain from Wednesday and kicks off the spring oversea leg of the 2016 TLPGA Tour season. This marks the second year this event is co-sanctioned by the TLPGA Tour and LPGT (Ladies Philippine Golf Tour), which will be played through a three-round, 54-hole stroke-play format.

The ICTSI Champion Tour will be the fourth tournament on the 2016 TLPGA Tour calendar, following the three major events in January and a Lunar New Year break. An international field comprised of 59 pro golfers and 7 amateurs from eight countries will all be vying for the honor to be crowned the first champion on the 2016 LPGT, as it serves as the season starter on the Filipino circuit.

The TLPGA Tour has been striving to increase its involvement in co-sanctioned tournament overseas. In addition to a growth of influence on the global scene, this will have the substantial benefit of building a stronger tour structure and, critically, allowing members to have more playing opportunities abroad for a more compact portfolio and simply richer ranking points. The cooperation between the TLPGT and the LPGT has been a successful example.

The ICTSI (International Container Terminal Services, Inc.) is the title sponsor of the LPGT for the fourth year. And the total number of tournaments has been raised from six in 2013 to nine this year. The ICTSI Champion Tour provides a purse of US$75,000 with US$15,000 going to the winner.

The Splendido Taal Golf Club, set at 6,201 yards, will be the backdrop this week. An 18-hole Pro-Am event was held today with Taiwanese Huang Hsien-Wen (黃賢雯) posted the low score alongside three local players as they collected a US$300 special prize.

Eight of the current top-20 on the TLPGA Tour money list, including no.8 Yu Pei-Lin (余珮琳), no.10 Chen Yu-Ju (陳宇茹), no.12 Huang Ching (黃靖), no.14 Chen Min-Jou (陳敏柔), no.15 Yeh Hsin-Ning (葉欣寧), no.17 Lynn Chou (邱齡緹), no.19 Pan Yen Ling (潘彥伶), and no.20 Chen Tzu-Han (陳子涵) will lead a 24-player contingent from Taiwan, home of the TLPGA Tour.

Local players from Philippines will be setting sights on the prize as well. Cyna Rodriguez, LPGT Order of Merit winner of the past three years, will headline the rising field. Rodriguez garnered three victories on the LPGT last year and capped off the stellar season when she earned 2016 US LPGA membership making it through the Q-School tournament.

There are also two Symetra Tour level players from the local squad, Dottie Ardina and Mia Piccio, who would hope to continue their nice form in 2015. Ardina, especially, has recorded three victories last year, topping the chart with the most titles won alongside Rodriguez. With one win each, American Corpus Cristina and Korea’s Hwang Ye-Nah are also looking to extend their title count.

Ababa Sarah, who finished second on the 2015 year-end LPGT Order of Merit, and Princess Superal, the number one amateur in the Philippines who is riding an eight victory streak, will be featured in the home event. Representing Thailand, 16-year-old prodigy Kanphanitnan Muangkhumsakul is hoping to gain a second win under her belt this year after winning the season-opening Hitachi Ladies Classic.

A cut will be made to the low 50 and ties after 36 holes. The players will be teeing off tomorrow 7:00 in the morning.