THE MercedesTrophy Golf Invitational, one of the longest, most exclusive invitational golfing events in the country, gears up for its grand 13th staging on March 19 with another huge elite field seeing action at Sta. Elena Golf Club.
Over 200 players are tipped to vie in the competitive but fun 18-hole tournament that mixes sport, lifestyle and luxury, this being participated in by Mercedes-Benz owners and golf enthusiasts.
The countdown to the blue-ribbon event, which also stakes berths in the Asian Finals set in Brisbane, Australia in August, actually kicked off last March 1 with Auto Nation Group, Inc., the exclusive importer and distributor of Mercedes-Benz in the Philippines, holding the MercedesTrophy Sponsors and Champions Night at Makati Shangri-La Hotel.
Gracing the event were officials and representatives of platinum and gold sponsors, including Makati Shangri-La Hotel, Philippine Airlines, PLDT Alpha, QBE Seaboard Insurance, Inc., Shell Philippines and TW Steel. Other backers of the event are Boysen, Business Mirror, Remy Martin and Security Bank.
Three division champions and their respective runners-up along with the winner in ladies play will represent the Philippines in the MercedesTrophy Asian Finals via Philippine Airlines.
Aside from the rare chance to play with other regional champions, participants in the Asian Finals will also be treated to an experiential drive that will showcasae the world-class performance and dynamic handling of Mercedes-Benz vehicles.
Winners of the Asian Finals will then meet other champions in the prestigious International MercedesTrophy Tournament in Stuttgart, Germany in October.
What makes the upcoming staging of the annual event special is that it is also held to raise funds for a charitable donation to the Cardinal Medical Charities Foundation, Inc. as part of Mercedes-Benz’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program. The CMCF is a non-government organization that grants medical care and financial subsidy to disadvantaged patients.