MANILA, Philippines - A visiting Valley squad forced a 2.5-2.5 draw with host Alabang in the first half of their duel for the Men’s Federation League golf championship last Friday.
Alabang had a chance to take the edge but the scramble pair of Vic Guzman and Jorge Gallent blew a 1-up lead through the 17th with a bogey on the last hole, allowing the Valley pair of Menard Co and Justin Limjap to force a draw.
The match was close in all aspects with Alabang, seeking only its second title in the league, taking the best-ball and high-low formats while Valley, still to win its first championship despite being a perennial contender, won the greensomes and the aggregate.
The title tiff moves to Valley for the concluding match today with the Antipolo-based club aiming to cash in on its home course advantage.
Joaquin Tolentino/Chino Raymundo took the greensomes for Valley when they defeated Arnel Paras/Tuan Nguyen of Alabang via a 3&2 decision. Alabang battled back with a win in best-ball through the pair of Daniel Roa/OV Espiritu who turned back Valley’s Paco Puyat/Marvin Mendoza 3&2.
After Alabang went up 2-1 through Monchu Nolasco/Christopher Popp who prevailed over the Valley pair of Edmund Yee/Jeffrey Bernaldez 3&2 in high-low, a big rally by Alabang’s Francis Jimenez/Seve Roxas Chua fell short and yielded a 2&1 decision to Adrian Mauricio/Zaldy Villa in aggregate that allowed Valley to forge a 2-2 tie.
It was for the scramble tandems to break the tie and it looked like Vic Guzman/Jorge Gallent was going to give to Alabang until their last hole mistake.