Manila: Frankie Minoza, Angelo Que, Juvic Pagunsan and Miguel Tabuena, the past, present and future stars of Filipino golf, will spearhead the local challenge at the inaugural Solaire Open next week.
 
Veteran Minoza, who has enjoyed a highly successful career by winning multiple titles across Asia including the 2007 Philippine Open on the Asian Tour, believes the current generation of Filipino golfers will shine at the challenging Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.
 
Que and Pagunsan hold a combined four Asian Tour titles with the latter becoming the first Filipino to win the prestigious Order of Merit crown in 2011.
 
The talented Tabuena, a two-time winner on the local circuit, was in contention at the 2012 Queen’s Cup in Thailand and ICTSI Philippine Open before finishing tied 11th and 10th place respectively.
 
“The current Philippine field is good and these young kids have no fear. They are very good,” said the 53-year-old Minoza ahead of the Solaire Open which will be staged from April 11 to 14.
 
Que got off to a superb start to the 2013 Asian Tour season when he finished tied fourth at the season-opening Zaykabar Myanmar Open but went through a minor setback when he missed the cut at the Chiangmai Golf Classic presented by PTT last week.
 
He is slowly hitting the mark with a new set of golf clubs but remains upbeat of challenging for a fourth victory on the region’s premier Tour, which is celebrating its 10th milestone season.
 
“I finished fourth in my first event so it has been pretty good so far. I’m still trying to find four good rounds for the whole week where I will be in contention again,” said Que.
 
“Every time you have new equipment, you have to make it match your golf swing and your style especially me with the low lofts, stiff shafts and flat lies. So it’s pretty hard for me to get it to match nicely,” he added.
 
Jay Bayron, who earned his 2013 Asian Tour card by winning the Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit last year, Antonio Lascuna, who finished a career high 12th on the 2012 Order of Merit, and Artemio Murakami, who is an Asian Tour winner, will also feature in the newest event on the Asian Tour.
 
Baek Seuk-hyun of Korea, Arnond Vongvanij of Thailand, Mardan Mamat of Singapore, Tetsuji Hiratsuka of Japan and Rikard Karlberg of Sweden are among the elite cast of international stars who will vie for honours at Wack Wack next week.