RP golfers trail leaders by 15 in World Am

The Philippines struggled in a late, late cold afternoon flight when the wind got up at the Stellenbosch Golf Club, limping with a 10-over 154 and falling 15 strokes behind Canada at the start of the men’s World Amateur Golf Championships in Stellenbosch, South Africa Thursday.

Jay Bayron dropped five strokes in the last three holes, wasting away an even par round to finish with a 42 and a 77, the same output put in by Michael Bibat, who needed a birdie on the final hole to string nines of 39-38 card for that 154 in a big letdown for a team which came into the Eisenhower Cup raring to atone for the RP ladies’ joint 30th effort in the Espirito Santo Trophy last week.

The RP men’s squad could be heading for a poorer finish.

Marvin Dumandan, the spearhead of the squad backed by ICTSI, skied with an 82 in a stint marred by three double bogeys and six bogeys with two birdies to show and didn’t count in the three-to-play, two-to-count format event.

The Philippines, which shared 23rd place in the rain-shortened 2004 edition in Puerto Rico, stood in 41st place in a record field of 70 in a tie with Bermuda and Venezuela.

Canada, meanwhile, took advantage of an early start, beating the worst of a fresh southerly wind to fire a five-under 139 behind Richard Scott’s 69 and Andrew Parr’s 70 as it posted a two-stroke lead over the Netherlands, which pooled a 141.

France shot a two-under 142 at De Zalze for solo third while the United States, chasing a fourth straight championship in this biennial event, carded a 143 in a tie with Malaysia, Austria and South Africa.

The Canadians were midway through their rounds when the wind started to blow and made their rivals struggle the rest of the day.