Dottie, Andie power Pinays to 3-shot lead

HONG KONG – Dottie Ardina sizzled in the rain and heat and shot a two-under 68 while Andie Unson turned in a solid 69 as the Philippines assembled a 207 to open a three-stroke lead over Thailand in the Santi Cup of the Southeast Asian Amateur Golf Team Championships here yesterday.

Reigning Philippine Ladies Open champion Chihiro Ikeda matched par 70 at the Clearwater Bay and Country Club course to preserve the team’s under-par aggregate in its strongest start in three years of the event featuring the region’s leading golfing ladies.

Jayvie Agojo struggled with a 76 and failed to count in the four-to-play, three-to-count format event among the protagonists in this year’s SEA Games in Indonesia.

But Ardina, winner of this year’s Queen Sirikit Cup individual crown, Unson and Ikeda got the job done, at least in the first 18 holes of the four-day championship, as the ICTSI-backed golfers upstaged the back-to-back defending champions for the momentum they had been searching for so long in team play.

“Actually this is the fist time that they played this well as a team. They are good individually, but when it comes to team play, they just couldn’t pull it off together,” said ICTSI and national ladies squad coach Bong Lopez. “This time, it’s different. I just hope they sustain their form and I expect Jayvie to settle down.”

Thailand, tied with the Philippines after nine holes, lost its sparkle at the front as Pavarisa Yoktuan, who made a two-under 33 at the back, stumbled with a triple-bogey 8 on No. 5 and bogeyed the next two holes. She holed out with a birdie but ended up with a 72.

Still, it counted for the Thailand’s 210 output as Pinrath Loomboonruang fired the day’s best 67 and Wad Phaewchimpee added a 71.

Hong Kong failed to cash in on its local knowledge of the up-and-down layout by the cliff as it pooled a seven-over 217 while Malaysia made a 221 for fourth followed by Singapore (224) and Indonesia (226).

Meanwhile, the Lion City Cup, where the Phl junior team is the reigning champion, is still being played at presstime with Rupert Zaragoza matching par 35 after 9 holes. Clyde Mondilla had a 36, Gio Gandionco made a 37 while Andres Saldana skied to a 41.

The Putra Cup team of Zanie Boy Gialon (72), Lloyd Go (74) and Art Arbole (75) came in last in a field of seven after the first round with a 221 as John Kier Abdon made an 82.

The Filipinos, whose campaign here, along with the ladies and junior squads, is sanctioned by the National Golf Association of the Phils. and supported by ICTSI and Philippine Sports Commission, stood 11 shots off Indonesia which surprised the field with an even 210 for a five-shot lead over Singapore (215).

Hong Kong is in third with a 217 while Malaysia and Myanmar are tied at 219 and Thailand, which has dominated the centerpiece event in the last few years, bombed out with a 220, just a stroke better than the Philippines.

The Putra Cup team is actually missing the services of Jobim Carlos and Marcel Puyat with Zaragoza and Mondilla tapped to play in the Lion City Cup to bolster the team’s title-retention bid, according to Team Phl head Tommy Manotoc.

Earlier, Ardina, runner-up in this year’s US Girls Championship, found her rhythm with back-to-back birdies from No. 14 then rolled in an eight-footer on No. 18 before knocking down a six-footer on the par-3 No. 1 following a 30-minute downpour.

Unson, winner of this year’s Philippine Amateur Championship, also rebounded from a bogey on No. 12 with two birdies and a couple of clutch par-putts for that 69 while Ikeda, the reigning Philippine Ladies Open champion, mixed two birdies with the same number of bogeys while muffing a couple of birdie putts inside six feet.