John Hay strikes, trails Golden Oats by 3 shots

Camp John Hay struck back with 114 points at the Baguio Country Club yesterday, moving within three points of three-peat seeking Golden Oats in the penultimate round of the Fil Championship Division of the 59th Fil-Am Men’s Golf Invitational in Baguio.

Skipper Nelson Eslao and Korean Park Jun-wong fired 30 points each under the Stableford scoring system while Fred Puckett holed out with a birdie for a 28 and Clyde Cabreros shot a 26 for John Hay, which pooled a 54-hole aggregate of 356.

That was just three points behind Golden Oats, which struggled with a 111 at the short but tricky layout for a 359 total, paving the way for a final day shootout between the top two teams.

Iggy Clavecilla again led the back-to-back defending champions’ bid with 34 points but the rest of the team groped for form on the tight fairways and unpredictable putting surface of BCC.

Clavecilla nearly made an eagle on No. 8 and could’ve scored better if not for his flubbed birdie putts inside 10 feet. 

“I haven’t had much feel of the greens because I didn’t practice BCC’s back nine last week. Now, I am pretty sure how to attack them,” said Clavecilla.

Bong Sison, the top Golden Oats scorer in the first day, had a 27, skipper Florene delos Santos carded a 26 and team manager Freddie Mendoza added a 24. Francis Gaston didn’t count with a 23.

“John Hay really played well. As much as we wanted to avoid it, it’s going to be a down-to-the-wire finish,” said Golden Oats owner Eugene Arriesgado.

Nueva Ecija turned in a 110 for a 334 total for third while The Country Club has practically given up its bid when only two players, Richie Garcia and Joey Stevens, competed.

In the Am Championship Division, Camp John Hay pooled a 107 at the Camp John Hay Golf Club for a 327 overall, virtually clinching the crown with a 44-shot lead over Manila Southwoods (95-283). Maximm/Komatsu is in third with a 270 after a 100.