Ardina scores first win in new FCWT season

MANILA, Philippines - Dottie Ardina posted her first victory in the new season of the Future Collegians World Tour (FCWT), firing a two-under par 70 in the final round to capture the Naples Beach Challenge crown at the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club in Naples, Florida over the weekend.

Ardina, 15, birdied three of the first 13 holes and bucked a bogey on the par 3 16th with clutch pars in the last two holes as she held off the charging Vivian Chen of Taiwan to rule the 36-hole tournament among girls’ aged 13-18 with a 142 aggregate.

Chen, who struggled with a three-over 75 in the opening round, rallied with five birdies against a bogey for a tournament-best 68 but ran out of holes in her comeback bid, settling for second with a 143.

It was an inspiring win for Ardina, now in the thick of her preparations for the SEA Games in Laos next month along with ICTSI golf teammates Chihiro Ikeda, who will also come into the biennial meet with a victory in the Indonesia Amateur Open also last week, and fellow US-based player Mia Piccio.

Ardina, who scored two wins and two runner-up finishes last season to make it to the 2008-09 FCWT All-American team, is arriving next week to join her teammates in the ICTSI golf squad in the final stretch of their build-up for the Laos games.

Sophie Hayashi of Japan, who led the Naples Challenge with a 71 in the first round, dropped to third with a 146 after a 75.