Expats stamp class in Eagle Ridge golf

Expats served notice of their new firepower in the new year as Lim Min-kook, Kim Kyung-jung and Misako Ogihara topped their respective divisions in the January monthly tournament for members of the Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club in Gen. Trias, Cavite.

Lim, a 3-handicapper, mastered the tough conditions at the Faldo layout with the greens very sleek and the winds making club selection a big puzzle, scoring a 78 to beat Shinichi Ogihara by two strokes for the Class A crown.

Kim finished three strokes ahead of Fred Asunto in Class B with his 85 and Japanese Nobukazu Kotake claimed third place while another Japanese expat Misako Ogihara denied her local rivals the ladies plum.

Jose Marie Lim and Manuel Uy went home with the Class C and Class D titles, respectively.

Lim scored a 92 to pull off a four-stroke win over Jose Mendoza while Uy had the biggest margin of six among the winners with a 98 against the 104 of Reynaldo Villafuerte.

The return match of Imelda Agustin and Arlette Dizon was spoiled by Ogihara who banked on a higher handicap to escape with a one-stroke win over Agustin.

The seniors monthly was just as closely fought with Rodolfo Villanueva emerging as the overall champion.

Age-group winners were Benjamin del Rosario in Group I for 55-59 years, Bernie Bernardo in Group II for 60-64 years and Manuel Tayas in Group III for players 65 and above.

Del Rosario beat the challenge of Roberto Sison and Charles Ronald Bettz, Bernardo was too classy for Carlos de Leon and Maxy Abad and Tayas escaped with a close win over Al Pedersen and Efren Villanueva.