Eastridge makes move

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Defending champion Manila Southwoods saw its overnight lead reduced to 12 points by main challenger Eastridge Golf Club halfway through the 74th Philippine Airlines Men’s Interclub golf team championships yesterday.

Eastridge, a team reinforced by top Davao golfers, outscored the Carmona-based squad, 135-133, at the more difficult Club Filipino de Cebu as both squads braced for the final half of the race.

Veteran Junjun Plana, the top scorer at the Cebu Country Club on Wednesday, failed to count with 28 points but the rest of his teammates picked up the cudgels to make sure Southwoods remains comfortably on top.

Ryan Monsave and Lanz William Uy each shot 35 points to lead the defending champions while Shinichi Suzuki and Masaichi Otake contributed 34 and 29, respectively.

“We were five points short of our target today, but we kind of expected this. We could not possibly get the best score every day,” said Southwoods non-playing captain Thirdy Escano.

Southwoods has a 36-hole total of 274 while Eastridge has 262.