Bondoc sets ICTSI pace with 67

MANILA, Philippines - Gene Bondoc came charging home with a five-under par 67 to wrest a one-stroke lead over Elmer Salvador and two amateurs at the start of the P1 million ICTSI-Valley Golf Challenge at the Valley Golf Club in Antipolo yesterday.

Bondoc, who also led in the first round of the ICTSI-Forest Hills Classic but failed to sustain his charge and wound up third, bucked the wind in the afternoon flight and rattled off six birdies against a bogey to find himself on top of the heap again.

He had a 32-35 card, this time hoping to stay focused in the last two rounds of the P1 million event and get another crack at a first-ever crown on the circuit sponsored by International Container Terminal Services, Inc.

For a while, Salvador and amateurs Jhonnel Ababa and Jessie Balasabas stood at the helm with identical 68s until Bondoc came in one of the late flights in gathering dusk to snatch the lead with four birdies in the last nine holes at the front.

Salvador, the ICTSI-Sherwood Classic winner, rode on a solid backside stint to fire a 68 in another solid start by a soft-spoken shotmaker trying to become the first player to score two wins on the 10-leg tour.

Teeing off at the back, Salvador banged in back-to-back birdies from No. 10 and added another one on No. 13. He fumbled with a missed-green bogey on the 16th but quickly recovered with another birdie on the 17th before gunning down another on No. 5 for a 35-33 card in one of the morning flights.

Ababa made his 68 the harder way when the wind began to whip up in the afternoon but the reed-thin mainstay of the national team competing in next month’s SEA Games proved up to task, firing five birdies against a bogey.

Balasabas, a veteran of the World Am, made an eagle and six birdies in an awesome display of shotmaking but stumbled with four bogeys and settled for that 68.

Ruben Sasutil rallied with four birdies in the last eight holes to shoot a 69 for a share of fourth with Joenard Rates in the tournament serving as the penultimate of the circuit backed by MJ Carr Golf Management, Pisanti, Srixon, FAMI, Business Mirror, Motorola, Omnisource, Nike Golf, Tiger Gatorade and Pepsico.

Cassius Casas and Jun Bernis carded identical 70s while amateur Rufino Bayron, who humbled the pros by winning here last year, made a decent 36 at the back from where he teed off. But he dropped five strokes in the first three holes at the front and closed out with a 42 for a six-over 78.