Duavit heads Phl team to MercedesTrophy

MANILA, Philippines - Michael John Duavit shot a net six-under 66 worth 42 Stableford points to capture the Division A crown while Leonides Latayan and Toribio Cote topped the Divisions B and C, respectively, in the seventh MercedesTrophy National Final at Sta. Elena Golf Club recently.

Duavit edged Vince Tanjutco’s 41 while Latayan made a 43 to squeak past Ricardo Bernabe Jr., who had a 42; while Cote, with five pars overall, won via count-back over Edwin Costes in the one-day tournament organized by CATS Motors, Inc.

In the ladies division of the event which hosted more than 200 Mercedes-Benz owners and guests, Inquirer president and CEO Sandy Prieto-Romualdez and Korean Jung Grace Kim finished tied with 72s but the former took the crown with a lower handicap (5) and more pars made (13). 

With their victories in the event, sponsored by PLDT, Shell, Singapore Airlines, Seaboard Eastern Insurance, Arrow and TW Steel, Duavit, Latayan, Cote and Prieto-Romualdez will lead the Philippine contingent in the MercedesTrophy Asian Final in Australia in August.

The runners-up – Tanjutco, Bernabe and Costes – will also go to Australia with the CATS-Phl squad, to be headed by CATS Motors president Felix Ang as delegation head and PR director Emy Arcilla as country captain.

Backed by Sta. Elena, Security Bank, Makati Shangri-La, Duty Free, Canon, Asia Brewery, Johnnie Walker, Business Mirror and Inquirer Golf, Kit Dichavez and Justin Pe topped the sponsors and guests divisions, respectively, but were not eligible to join the Aussie trip.

Each member of the Phl delegation will receive a TW Steel timepiece (official watch), Arrow shirts (official uniform), and a personalized golf bag which they shall all use during their Asian Final stint.

“With this batch, I believe we can finally nail a win in the Asian Final, something which was quite elusive in our fist six tries,” said Ang.