Alta Vista grabs lead in Sta. Lucia golf tour

CEBU, Philippines - Playing at home did a lot of good for host Alta Vista Golf and Country Club as it jumped from third to first overall in the standings after the 2nd leg of the 10th Santa Lucia Golf Tour played here last Friday and Saturday.

Alta Vista seized the lead from first leg host Rancho Palos Verdes of Davao and relegated erstwhile second place Eagle Ridge to third overall.

The Cebuanos have a two-leg total of 85 points (34-51) after an outstanding effort during the weekend. Palos Verdes is second with 82 points (48-34) followed by Eagle Ridge with 73 (37-36) and Summit point 59 (27-32).

The tournament is participated in by nine golf clubs under the umbrella of Santa Lucia Realty and Development Inc. The other teams are Royal Tagaytay, Orchard, Beverly Place, Lakewood, and Caliraya Springs.

The huge jump of Alta Vista was attributed to sweeps in Groups 1 and 2.

In Group 1, the tandem of Alex Yeo and Deo Gabasa led the field with a two-day effort of 191 points (96-95). Second place went to Vic Gocela and Richard Lim with 189 (93-96) and completing the 1-2-3 finish for the hosts was the team of Enrico Solon and Jun Dayot with 184 (90-94).

The tournament uses the Molave Points System. In this format, a double eagle is worth 7 points, an ace is 6, eagle 5, birdie 4, par 3, bogey 2 and double-bogey 1.

The final leg of the tournament is set on the first weekend of November in courses based in Luzon.

In Group 2, the title went to the pair of Arnel Kwan and Leo Saberon with 188 points (98-90) followed by Kim Kwang Seok and Peter Aznar with 185 (96-89). Finishing third and completing the sweep for Alta Vista, was the duo of Agapito ‘Jun’ Suan and Nestor Mendoza with 176 (94-82).

In Group 3, Sergio Fojas and Manolo Antonil of Eagle Ridge won the title with a total of 191 points and winning in the countback. Second place went to Michael John Mangio and Simon Mangio of Beverly Place also with 191 points while third place went to Mario Pradil and Francisco Suzara, Jr. of Royal Tagaytay with 188.

In the seniors’ division, Alta Vista’s Lorenzo Alaan and Roy Damole scored 176 points on rounds of 90 and 86 to win the title. Carlito Dublan and Diemy Monedero of Palos Verdes finished second with 172 (89-83) while third place went to Felix Villanueva and Victor Yuvallos also of Alta Vista with 171 (82-89).

Individual Awards

Alfonso Marcelino of Palos Verdes won the championship division title scoring a total of 103 points on rounds of 50 and 53. Runner-up honors for the premiere handicap class went to Alta Vista’s Enrico Solon with 96 (48-48).

For class A, Alex Yeo won the title with 106 points (51-55) leading a sweep for the host club. Second place went to Victor Gocela with 104 (52-52) and third place went to Kim Kwang Seok with 97 (49-48).

In class B, Mario Pradil of Roya Tagaytay had the best performance in the tournament scoring a total of 1-under-pare 109 points on round of 55 and 54 to win the title. Second place went to Manolo Antonil of Eagle Ridge with 102 (50-52) while Alta Vista’s Arnel Kwan was third with 95 (48-47).

The class C title went to Michael John Mangio of Beverly Place with 101 (49-52) followed by Alta Vista’s Rene Piano with 92 (43-49), who edged Orchard’s Joseph Arcaira in the countback.

The class D title went to Romeo Asis of Orchard with 93 (44-49) followed by Sergio Fojas of Eagle Ridge with 89 and Hector Samonte of Caliraya Springs with 77.

The seniors’ title went to Ryoo Si Kun of Eagle Ridge with 92 edging Lakewood’s Peregrin de Guzman II in the countback. Third place went to Lor Alaan of Alta Vista with 90. -  THE FREEMAN