La Salle begins its title-retention bid as it takes on archrival Ateneo at the start of the 2009 edition of the Intercollegiate Golf Championship this Sunday at the Sherwood Hills Golf and Country Club in Cavite.

Aside from the Green Archers and the Blue Eagles, other schools participating in this annual event backed by the Philippine Golf Foundation are College of St. Benilde, University of the Philippines, University of Asia and, the Pacific and Lyceum.

Other matches this Sunday pit the CSB Blazers against the UAP Dragons and the UP Marrons versus the Lyceum Pirates.

The tournament gives financial assistance of P1,000 per team every week, although should the team default, the money must be returned to the organizers.

The participating schools will play each other twice in the first round, with the opening day matches resuming on December 13.

Other first round schedules are DLSU-UP, UAP-AdMU and CSB-Lyceum on November 15 and December 20, UP-CSB, UAP-DLSU and AdMU-Lyceum on November 22 and January 10, CSB-DLSU, Lyceum-UAP and UP-AdMU on November 29 and January 17, DLSU-Lyceum, UAP-UP, and AdMU-CSB on December 6 and January 24. The Finals is set January 31 and February 7, 2010.

Teams can use a minimum of four players and each roster must be played at least once during the eliminations.

A one point deduction will be levied for every player found lacking in mandatory play. Substitutions are allowed before the start of the second round of the eliminations, provided the player has not yet played.

The students should be enrolled in at least 12 units as certified by the university registrar, while the only exception to the minimum number of units is a graduating student.