The Country Club Invitational, long considered as the country’s golfing major championship, celebrates its 10th year with a total prize fund of P4.5million with a select 36-player field battling it out for the crown at the challenging TCC layout in Laguna.

Angelo Que nipped Marvin Dumandan by one to nail last year’s crown and record the first back-to-back victory in the four-day championship that has become the most keenly awaited tournament among the pros and amateurs alike for its prestige and magnitude.

Que will be seeking to set another mark but a host of others will out to foil his three-peat bid, including the other winners of the event which also serves as the kick-off of the new golfing season.

There is 2006 and 2008 champion Juvic Pagunsan, who will be hard-pressed to validate his status as Asia’s No. 1 after copping the Order of Merit crown in last year’s Asian Tour with a runner-up finish in the rich Singapore Open.

The smooth-swinging Pagunsan also won the Players’ Player of the Year award in the region’s premier circuit and topped the OOM derby in the ICTSI-Philippine Golf Tour on the strength of four-leg victories.

Artemio Murakami, winner in 2009, is also gearing up for a big comeback for a crack at the second crown along with inaugural champion Cassius Casas (2003) and fellow former winners Tony Lascuna (2004) and Jerome Delariarte (2005).

The top 36 players in last year’s OOM of the ICTSI-PGT are vying for the top P1.4 million purse in the event put up by golf patron Ricky Razon, chairman and CEO of ICTSI, the global leader in port management, in honor of his late father and ICTSI founder, Enrique “Don Pocholo” Razon, Sr., himself an avid golfer.

The list includes Elmer Salvador, winner of the OOM title in the inaugural staging of the ICTSI-PGT who finished second to Pagunsan last year, Jhonnel Ababa, a three-leg winner last season, 2010 OOM champion Jay Bayron, Rufino Bayron, Mhark Fernando, Elmer Saban, Richard Sinfuego, Robert Pactolerin,

Orlan Sumcad, Ferdie Aunzo, Arnold Villacencio, Jerson Balasabas, Gene Bondoc, Michael Bibat, Gerald Rosales, Mars Pucay, Randy Garalde, Ebarra Quiachon, Charles Hong, Jun Bernis, Dante Becierra, Joenard Rates, Carl Santos-Ocampo, Ramil Bisera, Ruben Sasutil and Albin Engino.

Frankie Miñoza, a multiple winner in Asia and one of the region’s living legends, fell short of his title bid in 2006, losing to Pagunsan in a playoff. But the ace Filipino shotmaker and two-time Philippine Open champion hopes to finally nail the elusive crown this year.

Teener Miguel Tabuena is also in the fold, confident of contending for the crown against the veteran campaigners with a confidence boosted by his stint in the Sony Open of the PGA Tour in Hawaii recently.