Pueblo ladies storm ahead in Luzvimin golf

MANILA, Philippines — Pueblo de Oro outdueled Cebu Country Club in a fierce showdown, 181-178, as it snatched a two-point lead after two rounds of the 2019 Champion Luzvimin Invitational golf tournament at the Cebu Country Club late Thursday.

Pamela Mariano, now the lead player of Pueblo after anchoring Del Monte’s title romp at Taal Splendido last year, followed up her 53-point output in the first round with 51 Molave points while Alethea Gaccion turned in a second straight 50-point game and Juliane Borlongan and Marife Carmichael carded identical 40 points for the Pueblo ladies, who stormed ahead heading to the last 18 holes of the annual championship sponsored by Champion.

Cebu Country Club slowed down after a lead-grabbing 187-point output Wednesday, settling for a 178 behind Riko Nagai’s 47 points and Crytal Neri, Catrina Martinez and Mary Kim Hong’s 46, 45 and 40 points, respectively.

Despite yielding the lead, the hosts remained confident of reigning at home with the rest of the contenders in the premier Diamond division all but bowing out with mediocre outputs.

Valley Golf, with Mariel Tee firing another 55 points, actually improved from 170 with a 180 but stood 17 points off Pueblo with a 350 while Del Monte, led by Sofia Abarcas’ 50 points, all but kissed its title-retention bid goodbye despite rebounding with a 180 from 167 for a 347 in the event organized and conducted by the Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines.

Many-time champion Manila Southwoods, with Laia Barro also carding 50 points, likewise failed to make its vaunted charge though it put in a 174 for a 337 while Fernando Air Base pooled a 274 after a 127 for sixth followed by Club Filipino (122-264).