Championships in the Philippines has been rocked by the sudden withdrawal of two players.

Robert Vallis, winner of the Bermuda Amateur Strokeplay for the past two years and generally considered the Island's top amateur, as well as promising junior Robbie Spurling, have both informed Bermuda Golf Association they won't be available for the bi-ennial November 14-17 tournament.

That leaves just Henry Ascento and Bill Pitt from the original team selected, and the BGA have now called an emergency meeting this week to consider replacements.

Vallis, who couldn't be reached for comment yesterday, reportedly cited "personal reasons'' for his decision to pull out, although one BGA source indicated that Vallis was not happy with the way in which the team had been selected in the first place. He had already declined an offer to captain the team.

Spurling, meanwhile, informed the BGA he would not be able to travel because of school commitments in the US.

Brendan (Bees) Ingham, chairman of the BGA selection committee, said yesterday a meeting would be held this week to discuss the association's options.

Among the players likely to be contacted, he said, were Hav Trott, Blake Marshall, Tim Carr and Duncan Zelkin.

Carr, the only non-Bermudian in contention for a place, was overlooked initially despite finishing fourth on the BGA's Order of Merit, the standings of which were a part of the criteria used to determine selection.

Ingham, however, confirmed yesterday that Carr would now be considered along with others.

Like Spurling, Zelkin, who won the 1994 Amateur Strokeplay, is at university in the US.

The team are due to leave Bermuda for the Philippines in about six weeks' time. More than 40 countries are expected to be represented at the championships, to be played at the Southwoods Golf and Country Club in Manila.

Two more PGA Tour pros have signed up for this month's Bermuda Open at Port Royal.

Billy Andrade, currently among this year's top 50 PGA Tour moneywinners, confirmed his entry last month when he was picked as an alternate for the Merrill-Lynch Shoot-out which takes place a day before the start of the Open on October 15.

And he'll be joined by New Jersey's Bill Britton and Canada's Dan Halldorson.

Forty-one-year-old Britton, who has almost two million dollars in career earnings, has been a pro since 1979, last earning his Tour card at the 1994 qualifying school. Halldorson, 44, is one of Canada's best known professionals, having represented that country several times in the World Cup.

Defending Bermuda Open champion Mike Donald, himself a former Tour player, is also confirmed for this year's $50,000 tournament.