Cangolf seizes 3-point lead in PAL golf

BACOLOD, Philippines – They swapped charges of spying. But at the end of the day, there simply was no need to sleuth to find out which team was better – at least in the first round of the PAL Interclub men’s golf tournament at the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club course here yesterday.

Canlubang rode on the exploits of local bet Alvin Engino and main man Mhark Fernando who fired 37 and 36 points, respectively, as the five-peat seeking team expectedly stormed ahead with a 137 aggregate, posting a three-point margin over bitter rival The Country Club in the centerpiece Championship Division.

Engino, 30, knocked down five birdies on a hot, windy day, including a tap-in on the ninth, their finishing hole where he hit a solid drive from 346 yards, the ball bouncing off the hardened fairway before rolling to the fringe. He chipped for his final birdie for 37 points, equivalent to a one-under par 69 in stroke play.

Fernando, the reigning national champion, also birdied No. 9 to salvage an even par round worth 36 points under the PAL points scoring format while Jobim Carlos and Paul Echavez added 32 points each for Cangolf’s 137 total. Abe Rosal, a former stalwart making a comeback of sorts to the annual event, failed to count with a 29.

The Country Club, trying to atone for its failed bid despite a star-studded roster in its debut last year, pooled a 134, not a bad output but was beyond what was expected of the team which fielded in former national team mainstays Rufino Bayron and Peter Villaber and local talent JR Tanpinco and rookies Alex Nallos and Dino Villanueva.

Tanpinco, a member of the ICTSI-TCC coaching staff, bogeyed the par-3 8th and settled for 35 points, which proved to be the team’s best score for the day as Bayron and Villaber groped for form with 34 points apiece, or two-over par, while Nallos chipped in 21 points. Villanueva didn’t count with a 25.

“Their big guns didn’t deliver,” said Cangolf coach Tommy Manotoc, referring to Bayron and Villaber. “While Mark and Alvin did what was expected of them, TCC’s top players didn’t.”

“Easily, they gave away five points because of Bayron and Villaber. As I’ve been saying, both teams should be even with each other’s A players and the third and fourth men will spell the difference. But today, the key was our main players delivered and they did not,” Manotoc said.

“It’s a good thing that we only trailed by three. I was expecting a larger deficit with the way my boys played,” said ICTSI-TCC coach Bong Lopez, who hopes his combination in today’s second round match of a duel fast-becoming to be a chess match will click at Binitin.

Club veterans also wondered why Lopez didn’t use Erwin Madrileño, also a caddie here for 14 years but the former national champion and head of the ICTSI golf program for men and women said that the team would need Madrileño more in Binitin.

“He can score there,” said Lopez. “But it’s just the first round. We’ll see.”

Manotoc agreed, saying it’s still too early to tell whether or not they could go all the way to a record fifth straight championship in what has long been considered as the unofficial national golf team championship.

“You don’t win championship in the first round,” he said.

Even before the first shot is hit, fireworks erupted at the clubhouse when Cangolf and TCC swapped charges of spying. Cangolf hit TCC’s last-minute switch of players but the latter claimed it was the former which peeped on its lineup during the submission of rosters.

But tournament chairman Buddy Resurreccion said there are no rules against looking at opponent’s fielded players or changing players.

“It creates confusion only if they would keep on changing players,” he said.

To make it simple, Resurreccion said he will require both teams to submit their respective rosters in sealed envelope.

“I’ve been telling them that since we have the same backer, this should be a friendly competition,” said Manotoc.

Engino’s 37-point output came hardly as a surprise for the ICTSI-Cangolf squad as Engino simply flashed his familiarity with the layout where he caddied for years before getting banned for joining the Cangolf team in 2008.

Seeing the potential in the diminutive shotmaker, NOGCC had thought of keeping Engino for its own team in the Founders Division. But Engino opted to join Canlubang where he blossomed to become one of the team’s reliable players.

He actually made the turn with a two-over card with bogeys on Nos. 11, 12 and 15 against a birdie on the 14th. But he opened the frontside with back-to-back birdies, added another one No. 6, dropped a stroke on the eighth but finished with a flourish.

Fernando stayed in top form after taking the low amateur honors in the TCC Invitational and the ICTSI Classic, saving par once and setting up two birdies from the bunkers, including on the ninth where he blasted to within three feet.

“Actually, it’s the coach who saved their day,” said Manotoc of Tanpinco, who in a way had failed to live up to expectations on a course he calls home although his 35 proved to be TCC’s top score for the day.

Alabang, led by Keanno Jahns’ 31 points, was a far third in the centerpiece event with 107.

While Lopez is expected to opt for Asistio, Madrileño, Dante Becierra and Zanieboy Gialon while Manotoc is tipped to field in Jhonnel Ababa, Jessie Balasabas, Joey Huerva and Art Arbole.

But focus will be on Cangolf’s 12-year-old Rupert Saragoza, who will try to match his skills and talent against rivals twice his age.

The event is presented by platinum sponsors Airbus, Boeing, 105.1 Crossover and Radio Mindanao Network. Major sponsors are Action Asia, GE Aviation, MTV Philippines, People Asia and Royal Caribbean.

The corporate backers are Business Mirror, Philippine Graphic, www.philstar.com, Sabre Airline Solutions/Sabre Travel Network and Resort World Manila. Century Park Hotel, DWWW 774 AM, Panay News, Master Card and Thales Aerospace are minor patrons.