22 July 2005 – The Philippine Embassy in the Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that big names in the Filipino professional golfers circuit joined the first-ever Brunei Open Golf Championship at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Empire Golf Course in Brunei Darussalam last month.

Ambassador Virginia H. Benavidez said that the Philippines’ very own Frankie Minoza, Jerome Delariarte, Angelo Que, Danny Zarate, Felix Casas, Gerald Rosales and Cookie Lao all made the cut to bring home part of the $300,000 prize money, which was shared by seventy golfers from several countries in the region and around the world.

This is the very first time that all the Filipino professionals who played at the Brunei Open were able to make it to the final day, Ambassador Benavidez added.  She reported that the Filipino golfers were quoted as saying, “In several previous tournaments, some of us had to go back home after two days as we were not able to reach the cut-off score.  But here in Brunei, we all had the chance to play throughout the tournament.”

The Philippine Ambassador to Brunei and several members of the Filipino community commended the Filipino golf professionals for their talent and skill in the very challenging tournament and for their partnership in projecting a favorable image of the Philippines, building bridges of friendship and deepening understanding and goodwill with Bruneians and other nationalities through sports.  END
 
 

/bjg