Medalla, partner grab Forest Hills lead

Mar de Guzman and partner BJ Medalla scored a combined 50 points under the best ball format and grabbed the lead in Division 1 heading into the final round today in the third Forest Hills Invitational tournament at the Forest Hills Golf and Country Club.

De Guzman and Medalla’s solid games catapulted them to a four-point lead over pursuers Luther Jao-Alvin Co, Larry Patnongon-Marty Ilagan, and Boni Sumbilla-Aderito Yujuico, who all scored 46 points in the four-day event co-presented by Golforce Inc. and Sun Cellular.

Sharing early spotlight is Jimmy Cham, who won a complete iron set from Wilson after shooting an ace at hole No. 13 using an S-Yard 7-iron and a Newing 77 ball. The Mitsubishi Lancer, courtesy of Diamond Motor Corp., is yet to be won.

The Antipolo-based golf club has Bagaberde Grill & Bar, CJH Dev. Co., Foodlink, GMA-7, MRT, TaylorMade Adidas Golf, Sports Specialists World Wide Inc., and Wilson Sports as major sponsors.

Coppertone, Dusit Hotel Nikko, Emeritus Security, Fairways & Bluewater, Lipovitan, Poblador Bautista Reyes Law Office, The Spa-Acropolis and Zesto are the other sponsors.

The duo of Eric Lim and George Benidy leads Division 2 with 52 points. The team of Mike Tanto and Arnel Agustin is trailing them with 49. Division 3 is shaping up to be a close battle between Francis Carpio and Rading Decipida, who are just a point ahead of Lincoln Huang and Luis Papa, 49-48.

Guest performer, the acoustic band Nyoy Volante and Mannos, will provide entertainment as they render soulful R&B songs in the awarding ceremony set tonight.