Ikeda, ICTSI bets rule Singapore Am

MANILA, Philippines - Chihiro Ikeda battled back from three strokes down in the last eight holes to beat local bet Charlotte Thomas, closing out with a one-under 71 to post a two-shot victory in the 21st Singapore Ladies Amateur Championship at the Singapore Island Golf Club last Thursday.

Ikeda actually needed just one hole to overcome that three-stroke deficit as she pounced on Thomas’ triple-bogey mishap on the par-5 No. 11 to draw level then birdied two of the last six holes to complete her come-from-behind victory in the 54-hole tournament which drew some of the region’s leading players.

Ikeda, the reigning SEA Games individual gold medalist and spearhead of the ICTSI golf team, totaled two-under 214 that included rounds of 71 and 72 as she turned back Thomas, who led in the first two rounds but limped home with a second straight 74 for a 216.

The 18-year-old Ikeda also led the RP-ICTSI squad, which included Lovelynn Guioguio and Anya Tanpinco, to the 36-hole team championship, finishing with a 288 aggregate from rounds of 142-146 and beating Macau, which had 147-145 for a 292.

Daniella Uy capped the squad’s domination of the event by bagging the Class A crown with a solid final round score of 71 for a 228, besting teammate Sheryl Villasencio (78-236) and Singapore’s Lyn Sen (86-252).

“She’s really a fighter. It doesn’t matter whether she’s down by just one or by a big margin. She just keeps on going and believing in herself,” said Bong Lopez, the man at the helm of the ICTSI golf program.

One shot behind Thomas at the start of final round, Ikeda, winner of seven local and international titles last year, dropped a stroke farther at the turn with an even par card and trailed by three after the Singaporean birdied No. 10.

But Thomas drove out of bounds on the 11th and wound up with a triple-bogey, enabling Ikeda, who made a routine par on the par-5 hole, to draw level. The Fil-Japanese shotmaker then rolled in an eight-foot birdie putt on the 13th which Thomas bogeyed for that crucial two-shot swing.