Forest Hills regains lead in Fil-Am golf

BAGUIO, Philippines – Forest Hills fought back with a 107 to wrest back the lead as defending champion Manila Southwoods sputtered with 98 points in a topsy-turvy third action of the Fil-Am Golf invitational tournament at the Baguio Country Club and Camp John Hay courses here yesterday.

Junard Austria shot 30 points, while Gabby Atienza, Rafael Garcia and Inigo Raymundo added 29, 25 and 23 points, respectively, for the Antipolo-based squad, which led in the first round but dropped to third halfway through the four-day championship.

With a 359 total, Forest Hills found itself on top again although via a shaky one-point lead over Mizuno, which pooled a 103 for a 358.

Southwoods, who grabbed the lead in the second round, tumbled down to third with a 356, just three behind the leader, ensuring a down-to-the-wire battle among three teams in the final 18 holes of the tournament presented by Toyota.

King Stehmeier led Mizuno with 31 points while Rodel Mangulabnan carded a 27, Richard Joson added a 26 and Juami Rocha tossed in 19 points for the team’s 103 output.

Southwoods drew 29 points from Sung Wan Yoon while Chepe Dulay, Charlie Chang and Teody Pascual added 25, 24 and 20, respectively.

Batangas Barakos turned in a 96 from Gerald Katigbak’s 29, Howie Sison’s 26, Jeck Mendoza’s 23 and the 18 points of Gilbert Villanueva as the team totaled 325 for fourth in the event sponsored by American Eye Center, Rudy Project, Wilson Sports, Gatorade, Carts Plaza and Supreme Bikes.

In the Am division, SeaBridge Che’lus II retained its lead in the championship flight after a 136 from Daryl Poe’s 37, Mando Iwanaga’s 35, Mike Castro’s 33 and Louis Sunga’s 31. The team had an aggregate of 364.