Magpantay, Ogihara rule Sta. Lucia Tour kickoff

LIPA, Batangas, Philippines – Lino Magpantay and Shinichi Ogihara made use of their knowledge of the course to the hilt to shoot a couple of straight five-under-par net 67s in two different formats and clinch the overall title in the Sta. Lucia Golf Tour opening leg recently at the Summit Point Golf and Country Club here.

Magpantay and Ogihara, two of the best senior club players in the local scene, delivered the big win for the host club by producing similar scores in the bestball format on the first day and scramble the next day with their 134 aggregate, three strokes clear of the next team in the final standings.

So solid was the Magpantay-Ogihara tandem that their pursuers were left to challenge for the top awards in the four handicap brackets in the tourney that fired off a four-leg series designed to strengthen relations among members operating under the Sta. Lucia umbrella.

Bong de Guzman and long-hitting Jonar Austria, playing out of the Lakewood Golf and Country Club in Cabanatuan, tallied a 70-67-137 to claim the Division 1 plum by three shots over Mike Poobalan and Mike Mangio of the Beverly Place Golf Club in Pampanga.

The three other division winners were Wilfrido Valencia-Joven Liwanag of Beverly Place, Greg Wyngard-Carleo Canela of Lake Caliraya and Ruben Macalalad-Lucas Emmanuel Canilao of Royale Tagaytay.

Sta. Lucia Realty executive Teng Santos, Mike Robles and Jason Robles awarded trophies and raffle prizes to participants, who came all the way from Cebu and are now looking forward to next stop of the Tour on July 12-13 at Lakewood.

Two giant clubs of the Sta. Lucia family– Eagle Ridge and Orchard in Cavite – surprisingly went home empty-handed on a course hosting the Tour as a regular leg for the first time.

Valencia and Liwanag chalked up 71-69-140 for a six-stroke win over Anthony Bejar and Marlo Cugtas of Alta Vista (70-76-146) in Division 2, Wyngard and Canela rallied with a 67 in the final round to tie Benjamin Espina and Asterio Lagura of Royal Tagaytay at 146 then prevailed in the countback while Macalalad and Canilao’s rounds of 80-75-155 beat the Beverly Place pair of Wilfredo Dulay-Ignacio Ocampo 87-74-161).

In August, Sta. Lucia is offering a trip to Bangkok, Thailand - subsidized like the three local legs  - serving as the third stop on Aug. 23-26. The series winds up at Alta Vista on Oct. 10-13.