Jungolfers spark surge of CCC

Davao City, Philippines  – Cebu Country Club surged to the top after the second round of the 65th Philippine Airlines (PAL) Interclub playing at the Apo Golf and Country Club yesterday behind the sterling performances of its young guns.

Lloyd Jefferson ‘LJ’ Go carded an even-par round of 36 points while Gen Nagai, the top scorer in the first round at Rancho Palos Verdes Golf and Country Club turned in one-over-par 35 points. Gio Gandionco scored 33 points and last to count was either of the 30s scored by veteran Eric Deen and Mark Dy.

Go is a 17-year-old student of Center International Education; Nagai, who is 15 goes to the Cebu International School while Gandionco, 16, studies at Paref-Springdale.

The tournament format requires a team to field a maximum of five players per round with only the four best scores to count for the team total. The Stableford or PAL Points System is used for scoring.

The Cebuanos now have a two-day total of 257 points on rounds of 123 and 134.

“I was really disappointed yesterday (Wednesday), but today I’m ecstatic,” said Ramontito Garcia, president of Cebu Country Club.

Garcia told The Freeman that they made mistakes during the first round that had them at second spot behind Alabang, but “today we more than made up for our mistakes.”

Garcia will be seeing action today at Rancho Palos Verdes with veteran Carl Almario, Bayani Garcia, Jovi Neri, and Marko Sarmiento.

“I want to retain the team that played today (yesterday) for our final round at Apo.”

He added, “We never played this good at Apo. We even have a player scoring 30 points not counted for the total.”

Go, capped his round with a near eagle on the par-5 18th hole. He hit the green from 230 yards on his second shot and made an easy birdie after the eagle try came several inches short.

Defending champion Del Monte, which was tied with Cebu after the first round, is now down by 10 points with an aggregate of 247 on rounds of 123 and 124.

Clyde Mondilla led the swingers from Bukidnon with 36 points while he got support from Lawrence Cubillo and Noel Langamin with 31 apiece while the last to count was Magno Arancon, Jr. with 26.

Surprise first round leader Alabang dropped to third with a total of 228 on rounds of 124 and 104. 

The tournament runs for four days, but players can only play a maximum of two rounds.

Founders division

Wack-Wack holds the lead in this second-ranked category with a total of 233 points on rounds of 117 and 116.

Co-host Apo Golf Club and Riviera are tied at second with two-day totals of 229 points. Apo fired rounds of 107 and 122 while Riviera shot 108 and 121.

Orchard would have been solo second, but the team was slapped a two-point penalty when Byron Cho putted out playing for double-bogey on one of the holes. The team has an aggregate of 228 (117-111).

Negros is next with 220 points on rounds of 106 and 114 followed by Forest Hills with 211 (106-105).

Davao is next with 209 (104-105) followed by Palos Verdes (97-105) and Valley (102-100) with 202 apiece. Neighboring golf courses Villamor and Phil. Navy are tied with 199 each followed by Alta Vista Golf and Country Club with 196 on rounds of 104 and 92.

Gabriel Yap, Jr. led Alta Vista yesterday with 25 points. He was backed by Dennis Canoy with 23 and the duo of Emir Abutazil and Enrico Solon with 22 apiece.

Wei-Wei Gao, the 12-year-old junior golf standout of Alta Vista, had his baptism of fire yesterday and shot 18 points, which did not count.

Alta Vista skipper Victor Gocela told The Freeman that despite being down by so many points, they still hope to gain some ground today at Palos Verdes.

Set to play for AVGCC in today’s round would be Gocela, Gao, Marvin Mendoza, David Park, and Edsel Tan.

Sportswriters division

Camp John Hay leads this third-ranked group with 203 points (96-107) followed by Iligan with 202 (108-94) and Mt. Malindang 191 (111-80). Eagle Ridge is fourth with 190 (109-81) followed by Zamboanga with 182 (92-90).

Mactan Island Golf Club improved its performance yesterday playing at Palos Verdes. The team has a two-day total of 180 points on rounds of 87 and 93.

Hong Kil Seo once again led Mactan scoring 28 points while Marlo Cugtas made 24, Jufil Sato 22, and last to count was B. Gen. Dong Dimatatac with 19. The fifth player yesterday was Col. Bam Jamorabo. Club Filipino also saw a slight improvement with a two-day total of 142 (70-72). Razy Razon fired 24 points, Raymond Garcia had 18, and also counting were Jiji Gullas and Peter Militante with 15 apiece. Kenneth Dyguani was the fifth player.

Club Filipino’s second team arrived here yesterday to play the last two days of the tournament. They are club president Boboy Durano, skipper Evans Tumaliwan, Lito Barino, Tedd Almario, and Victor Yuvallos.

The platinum sponsors of the 65th PAL Interclub are Mareco Broadcasting Network, Radio High, Stargate Media, Media Five, and GE. The major backers are Asia Brewery, Business Mirror and Airbus.

Also lending support are the Department of Tourism, Philippine Graphics, Boeing International Corp., Bombo Radyo, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Bulletin, Movenpick Resort & Spa Cebu, Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, Radisson Blu Hotel, and Imperial Palace Waterpark & Spa Cebu. (FREEMAN)