20TH PAL SENIORS INTERCLUB: Eagle Ridge Team L.A. share swriters class lead

Cagayan de Oro City - Eagle Ridge and Team L.A. came up with identical 217 points on an unusual cloudy weather condition on Friday as the two teams grabbed the early lead in the Sportswriters Division at the start of the 20th Philippine Airlines Seniors Interclub championship.

Norman Tugot, son of golfing great Celestino, and Cesar Castro each submitted seven-over 47 points under the PAL Molave system and showed the way for Eagle Ridge. Soo Nam-lee's 42 points, Paul Santos' 41, and Efren Cruz's 40 also counted in the eight-to-play, five-to-count format.

Team L.A. was led by the five-over 49 points by American Robert Welsh. Backing him up were Nathan Hisada (46), Pol Yson (42), Elviro Guzman (41), and Ben Dizon (39). Mario Cruz's 33, Bernabe Gonzales' 32 and Manolito Moreno's 29 did not count for the day.

Baguio Country Club was in solo third place with 215. The squad from Baguio City could have had a share of the lead but one of its players, Rep. Mauricio Domogan, signed a wrong scorecard.

According to tournament director Buddy Resurreccion, Rep. Domogan made a bogey on the par-5, 480-yard 18th hole but his marker failed to register his score properly. So instead of getting two points, the scoring committee had no choice but to put zero on that hole.

Despite the honest error, the highlanders are on target for the title.

Aside from Domogan's 38 points, lawyer Luis Sison had a 47, Gen. Nelson Eslao (Ret.) came home with a 45, Marcelo Alfonso contributed 44 and Bill Lawrence added 41.

Another Northern Luzon squad, Paoay Golf, was in fourth position with 212. Tied for fifth spot were local bet Del Monte and Apo Golf with 208 each.

Rounding out the top 10 places were Veterans Golf (204), Alta Vista Golf and Country Club (203), Sienna Plantation (192), Iloilo Golf (192), and Hawaii Fil-Am (192).

Ben Yu led Alta Vista with 46 points and was supported by the 41 of Bobby Barria, 41 of Boy Gonzalez, 40 of Tony Amor, and 35 of Rod Señido. The rest of the team were Oscar Sanchez with 32, Rolly Santos with 29 and Ed Sanchez, who played with an injury and managed only 26.

Lanang Golf showed the way in the initial action for the Founders Division with 220 points, six ahead of second placer Aguinaldo. At third with 206 was PGA British Columbia followed by the 201 of Iligan Golf and 197 of Victorias Golf.

Cebu Country Club, which is also seeing action in the Founders class is seeing action starting today said skipper Reny Sarmiento.

Action Asia, Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Callaway Golf, 105.1 Crossover, GE Aviation, GECAS, Mizuno, People Asia and Royal Caribbean are the major sponsors.

Corporate sponsors are Business Mirror, Fortune Tobacco, GMA 7, Premier Wine & Spirits, www.inquirer.net and Radio Mindanao Network.

Also throwing their support are Century Park Hotel, C-Lium Fibre, Foreign Post, Lufthansa Technik Philippines and What's On & Expat Communications.

In the Friendship class, Club Filipino de Cebu is at eighth spot with a total of 181 points. Those who counted for the team were Ed Franco 43, Alvin Garcia 36, Ed Osmeña 35, Bugs Unchuan 34, and Danny Flores 33. The 31 of Leo Alvez, 29 of Sam Dunque, and 28 or Arsenio Estenzo did not count.

Mercedes Plantation Golf and Country Club based in Medellin, Cebu is at 17th spot for the fourth-ranked Friendship division. The team scored 154 points.

Skipper Rolly Villegas led the team with 35 points and also counting were Jose Rodriguez with 32, Tony Teves with 30, Steve Saldua 29, and Aster Lagura 28. The rest of the team were Rene Sabido 27, Hector Tan 22, and Renato Go 21. - NLQ with pooled report