Carlos takes 15-17 title via playoff

MANILA, Philippines - Jobim Carlos beat fellow Filipinos Gus Mata and Miguel Tabuena in sudden-death to snatch the premier boys’ 15-17 years old title on Friday at the close of the 10th Philippine International Junior Golf Championships at the Ayala Greenfield Golf and Leisure Club in Calamba, Laguna.

Carlos chose the wrong day to play over par, struggling with a 76 after a 72-70 start, and ended up tied at 214 with Mata who charged with a 71 (77-70) and Tabuena (74-72-72). But he got back his groove in the tiebreaker to emerge one of the champions in this medal play event backed by Lucio “Bong” Tan Jr., Wallem Philippines Shipping, Inc., Toyota Balintawak, Toyota Otis, New Divisoria Mall, Rescue Derm, Atty. Gilberto Duavit, Ruben Reyes, Puyat Steel and Apo Galfan.

Mata had to settle for runner-up honors, beating Tabuena via a countback.

“It was really an exciting finale, the boys really went for the win. Now this kind of competition is what we need to really boost junior golf in the country,” said tournament director Gerard Cantada of the Philippine Junior Golf Federation.

Daniel Lin Ding-Sheng of Taiwan, on the other hand, ruled the 13-17 category, logging in a steady 71-71-72 (214) effort to also crown himself the tournament’s best overall scorer.

Keanu Jahns of the Philippines rallied with a 72 on the final round after a 77-69 for 218 to wrest the 13-14 title from Malcolm Kunjin of Sarawak, Malaysia, 70-75-75 (220). Marc Ong of Taiwan finished with 225 (76-79-70) to take second runner-up honors.

Hsiang Yu-chuan of Taiwan captured the 11-12 title with plenty to spare (79-72-78-229) over Sebastian Lorenzo of the Philippines (75-77-83-235) while Wei Wei Gao of the Philippines ruled the 10-and-under class with 86-75-77 (238) followed by another local bet Aidric Chan, 85-81-79 (245).

“Now that we’ve broken the ice, I would like to announce that Joe Cantada Sports and the Cantada Sports Center in Taguig City will hold successive tournaments in various sports for 2010. I would like to express my gratitude to all the participants, their very supportive parents, our friends and sponsors for making our initial salvo for this year a huge successs,” said Edgardo “Boy” Cantada.

Winners in the girls category were:

Regina de Guzman who carded a 66 after 72-68 for 206, 10 strokes ahead of fellow Filipino Princess Superal, 73-72-71 (216), followed by Wu Ying-Yi of Korea, 74-80-81 (235) in the 13-17 years old category; and Kim Mingi of Korea who submitted 72-70-74 (215) as against the 79-75-74 (228) of Taiwanese Carolin Chang Yu-Shin.

The tournament was also supported by Amsterdam Pawnshop and Money Changer, Citystate Properties, Empire Insurance, Food Industries Inc., Miracle Farming Enterprise, Philippine Flour Mills, Cats, Candyman, Garry Uy, Kopi Roti, Morning Glory Co., Inc., Pan De Manila, Bobby Inigo, Conceptrade, Ej and Obie Marcelo, Lucky Securities, Inc., Oliver Gan, Wack Wack Express, Elphege Wong, Dave Astejada and Emmanuel Lim.