Tabanas, Sarines twins lead PH youth charge in Taiwan

Sixteen-year-old Isabella Tabanas will make her first appearance in a professional golf event when she joins fellow ICTSI-backed amateurs Lisa and Mona Sarines in the Kenda Tire Cup beginning Wednesday, Sept. 23, at Taichung International Country Club in Taichung, Taiwan.

The TWD 4 million championship, the 16th leg of the LPGA of Taiwan Tour, is co-sanctioned by the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour and will bring together leading LPGT players and a strong international field.

For Tabanas, the 54-hole tournament is more than another overseas assignment, as it will mark her debut on the TLPGA and give the promising Cagayan de Oro junior an early opportunity to measure her game against seasoned professionals and leading amateurs from across Asia.

Tabanas has committed to play collegiate golf for Texas A&M University-Kingsville and is the latest addition to ICTSI’s growing roster of young golfers receiving support and international exposure as part of a long-term development program aimed at producing players capable of competing on the world stage.

She will be joined by the Sarines twins, Lisa and Mona, who are likewise considered among the promising young talents in Philippine golf after building experience through local and international junior competitions.

The sisters’ early progress has strengthened their credentials as potential future competitors on the LPGT, while the Taiwan tournament gives them another chance to gain experience in a field featuring established professionals.

The three youngsters will share the tournament stage with seasoned Filipina players led by ICTSI-backed Yvon Bisera and Princess Superal, along with Harmie Constantino, giving them a firsthand look at the standard required to compete successfully on the professional circuit.

Also part of ICTSI’s roster is 20-year-old Kiara Montebon, an incoming biology junior who competes for Chicago State University in U.S. NCAA Division I golf.

Tabanas, who hails from Cagayan de Oro, regularly plays at Del Monte Golf Club and Pueblo de Oro and has competed in several tournaments in the United States since 2023.

She continued her development last April with a successful campaign in the FCG Collegiate Series Spring Classic at Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook, California.

Tabanas enters her first TLPGA tournament focused on development, particularly sharpening her short game and improving her recovery shots around the green.

Her participation with the Sarines twins highlights a broader effort to expose the country’s next generation of golfers to competition beyond the junior level, allowing them to test their skills against deeper and more experienced international fields.

Meanwhile, Bisera will lead a 20-player LPGT contingent in the Kenda Tire Cup as the Filipinas continue their pursuit of a breakthrough victory under a partnership with the TLPGA that dates back to 2015.

The first co-sanctioned tournament under that partnership was held in 2018, creating another pathway for Philippine players to compete internationally while giving TLPGA golfers access to events involving the Philippine tour.

Bisera enters the Taiwan tournament as the Philippines’ leading threat after winning two of the first five LPGT legs this season and finishing runner-up in another.

She will be challenged by a strong group that includes Superal, Constantino, Mafy Singson, Sarah Ababa and Korean LPGT regular Jiwon Lee.

With Tabanas and the Sarines twins gaining their own exposure alongside an experienced 20-player Philippine contingent, the Kenda Tire Cup will serve both as a title opportunity for the country’s established professionals and a significant development test for its emerging young golfers.