Cebu Country Club cards second 3-peat in Founders: Mactan finishes third in Sportswriters division of 60th PAL Interclub

Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon - Cebu Country Club held back the late surge by the opposition yesterday to win its sixth title in seven years in the Founders division of the 60th Philippine Airlines (PAL) Interclub at the Del Monte Golf Club here.

The Cebu team backed by Y101 and Rudy Project scored 125 points on the final round and won by a margin of seven points against Orchard, 485-478.

Over at the Pueblo de Oro Golf and Country Club, Canlubang successfully defended its title in the premiere Championship division in run away fashion.

The four-day event closed last night with the awards ceremony held at the Atrium inside the Limketkai Center in downtown Cagayan de Oro City.

The tournament used the PAL Points or Stableford Scoring System and each team was allowed to field a maximum of five players per round with only the four best to count for the team total.

Champion Division

Canlubang scored two-under-par 146 points yesterday for a four-day aggregate of 573 points. Counting for the team total on the final round were the three 37s submitted by Joel Ababa, Mark Fernando and Dave Hernandez and the 35 of Boyet Saragoza. The 34 of Mario Labajo did not count. The other members of the team were Joseph Labajo, Rufino Bayron, Paul Echavez, Jay Bayron, and Jun Bernis.

The title was the 14th for the Laguna-based Canlu-bang Sugar Barons. The team also scored back-to-back double champion-ships as its 55 years old and above team also wrapped up the overall title in the 20th PAL Seniors Interclub last Sunday.

Second place went to Manila Southwoods, with a total of 549 points (138-135-142-134). Counting for the team total yesterday were Mike Bibat (36), Gene Bondoc (35), Erwin Vinluan (34), and either of the 29s submitted by 10-year-old Miko Yee and Junjun Plana. The rest of the team members were Tonton Asistio, Miko Alejandro, Jong Laput, Miggy Yee, and Tonlit Fernando.

Del Monte finished at third with 530 points (137-131-127-135). Those who counted yesterday were Jett Plete (37), Jose Opaco (35), Paul Miñoza (32), and Tristan Tabanas (31). The 30 of skipper Yoyong Velez did not count. The other players of Del Monte were Boboy Jaraula, Belem Arancon, Ben Miñoza, Ondoy Mondilla, and Bunny Abanio.

Fourth place went to Riviera with 412 followed by Tagaytay 385, and Sarangani 376.

Comebacking Club Filipino Incorporada de Cebu finished at 11th place with a total of 277 points on rounds of 75, 66, 59, and 77. Those who counted yesterday were Victor Yuvallos 25, Alvin Alazas 21, Boboy Durano 18, and Peter Militante 13. Abel de Manuel struggled with 6 points.

There were a total of 18 teams in this division.

Founders Division

A very elated Ramontito Garcia, skipper of Cebu Country Club, said "the other teams played very well, but we wanted it more. We devised a plan, stuck to it, and executed it just as we did in our previous five wins. We know each other's games very well so it helped our team chemistry immensely."

Jojo Tiongko led the team yesterday with 34 points and was backed by Eric Deen with 31, Carl almario with 30, and Mark Dy with 30. Jovi Neri shot 28 and did not count. The other team players were William Hong, Marko Sarmiento, Joseph Stevens, Nonoy Tirol, and Garcia.

"I stayed calm and played smart all day and this helped me execuite our game plan," said Tiongko a former jungolf standout, who is now into the bakery business.

Orchard scored 127 points yesterday courtesy of Raymund Sangil (35), King Stehmeier (31), Paul Salvador (31), and Jaye Escuadro (30). Orchard played with only four players in the final round.

Third place went to Wack-Wack with 470 points on rounds of 116, 120, 114, and 120.

Sportawriters Division

Valley made short work of the Del Monte course on the final day to officially claim the title that was already in the bag since the opening round. The team scored an aggregate of 468 points on rounds of 122, 115, 114, and 117.

Second place went to Villamor with 444 firing rounds of 105, 124, 99, and 116.

Mactan Island Golf Club finished third in this class with a total of 430 points on rounds of 99, 113, 101, and 117. Hubert Calan led the team yesterday with 35 points while Jonathan Dionson made 30, skipper Rodante Joya had 27 and ex-pro Fernando Mondares shot 25. Nilo Seno's 21 did not count. The other members of the team were Kim Agatep, Renato Aquino, Roy Dadula, Gungun Gica, and Dustin Morada.

Alta Vista scored a total of 397 points firing rounds of 94, 110, 91, and 102. Those who counted for the team yesterday were Dennis Canoy 30, Kim Kwang Seok 25, Gene Aznar 24, and Enrico Solon 23. Ramon Sebastian still could not find his form and did not count for the team.

The team finished tied for 8th place with Lanang. At fourth was Iloilo with 414 followed by Alabang 409, Camp John Hay 408, and Camp Evangelista 403.

Alta Vista skipper Victor Gocela told The FREEMAN yesterday, "no matter how big you think this golf tournament is and you failed, still it can never be bigger than your life."

Friendship Division

Maharlika topped this fourth-ranked category with a total of 362 points (112-91-81-78) followed by Stanford 347 (90-80-83-94) and South Cotabato 309 (67-65-89-88).

Action Asia, Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier, Callaway Golf, 105.1 Crossover, GE Aviation, Mizuno, People Asia and Royal Caribbean are this year's major sponsors.

The corporate backers are Business Mirror, Fortune Tobacco, GMA 7, Honda Cars Davao, Premier Wine & Spirits, www.inquirer.net and Radio Mindanao Network whose local station DXCC is celebrating its 55th anniversary.

Completing the backers are Century Park Hotel, C-Lium Fibre, Foreign Post, Lufthansa Technik Philippines and What's On Expat Communications.