Lesser lights, ace maker steal show in Fil-Am

BAGUIO — Cool winds, warm sunshine and an ace that thrilled a Duty Free Phils. bet no end marked the start of the 52nd Fil-Am men’s international golf tournament which got underway yesterday with a promise of high-powered action from a record field of 690 competing in various divisions at the Camp John Hay and Baguio Country Club courses here.

While the big guns of the event brace for a spirited chase for the top plum in the centerpiece Championship Flight of the Fil Division set to fire off tomorrow, the lesser lights took the spotlight in the first round of the six-day championship with Home Metro Manila and Walace golf teams seizing the lead in Classes C and D of the Fil category at the BCC layout, respectively.

Actor Richard Gomez, also playing for Duty Free, and comedian Willie Revillame, suiting up for Ram Master-Tiger Beer, provided the celebrity touch and made some good shots but they failed to put their respective teams in contention in Class C in an otherwise fine day at BCC with clear blue sky and the cool temperature making the playing condition ideal for the participants.

Home Metro Manila, bannered by Eduardo Gador’s 28 points, put in a collective 94-point production under the five-to-play, four-to-count format of this event to show the way in the C division, eight points ahead of Jetha Valley (86) and the Baguio City Council team of Rep. Mauricio Domogan. Walter Ruchti shot 27 points to pace Walace golf team’s leading 89-point output in D Division, two better than Guam Kool Swingers and Super B, which both had 87 points.

But it was Duty Free’s Joel Dayrit who came through with the best shot at the par 3-littered backside of the par 61 BCC layout, hitting a superb 8-iron shot on the 157-yard 18th, the ball landing eight feet short of the target before it rolled and disappeared into the cup.

"I was actually looking for my tee when I hit my shot, but I knew I hit it straight. Then after I heard the caddies shout ‘hole-in-one,’ ‘hole-in-one,’ I just went straight to the green," said Dayrit. He used a Callaway and a Wilson Staff #1 ball in shooting his second ace in a career spanning 12 years.

It did net him a brand-new Wilson golf set, but the feat failed to net him a good score.

For the 42-year-old president of Daymont Marketing, who teed off at the backside with Baguio City Mayor Bernardo Vergara, Jay Borromeo of Ram Master and Roger Santander of Macabud, limped on his homeward trip instead of playing the last nine holes inspired as he wound up with 18 points under the PAL Stableford scoring system.

Still, that 18-point effort proved the third best score for Duty Free, after Willy Ortiz’s 23 and Gomez’s 19, but the team found itself down in 11th place with 76 points, 18 points behind Home Metro Manila.

Ram Master-Tiger Beer proved a rung better at 10th with 77 points, thanks to Revillame, who emerged the team’s best scorer with 23 points in this annual event long regarded as the biggest in terms of participation and sponsored by Smart, Sony-Ericsson, College Assurance Plan, Eva Air and John Hay Poro Point Development Corp.

Focus and interest, however, are reserved for tomorrow’s start of the Championship Division where the fancied CAP Southwoods squad eyes a rare three-peat feat over a formidable set of rivals in Mizuno DHL and Fed League champion Forest Hills.