Southwoods Invitational: Otake-Castro zooms to overall gross lead

MANILA, Philippines – Masaichi Otake and guest teammate Zachary Castro sustained their top form and combined for 72 points in Aggregate format at Legends, matching their output at Masters as they stormed ahead in the overall gross race with a 144 in Day 3 of the Southwoods Invitational in Carmona, Cavite Friday.

But a slew of other teams still have to complete their second round play in various divisions in today’s (Saturday) finale of the four-day championship, ensuring a spirited battle for top honors in the host club’s flagship member-guest tournament which drew more than 600 players.

But Otake, member of Southwoods’ team in various Interclub championships, and Castro, winner of the recent Hurricane Junior Golf Tour in North Carolina, produced superb rounds, including the first 72 in Best Ball at the Masters under the Stableford Points scoring system with applied course handicaps.

With a 144 total, the Otake-Castro tandem stood nine points ahead of Florene delos Santos and Chino Raymundo, who settled for 55 points at Legends after an 80 at Masters for 135, while Claire Ong and Gabrielle Monfort pooled 134 points after a 64 and 70 at Legends and Masters, respectively.

Richard Chua and Fernando Lim likewise took control in the overall net championship with 84 points at the Legends for a 178 and a five-point lead over the Rodolfo Faustino III-Ed Camacho tandem, which made a 173 after 81 points at Legends, while Brian Park and Eded Hernandez put in 77 points at Legends for joint third at 171 with Karlo Miguel and Juan Carlos Reyes, who carded 75 points at Legends.

Renie Floro and Kazuo Murakami, on the other hand, stayed ahead in Division I with 170 after a 74 at Legends; Brian Park and Eden Hernandez grabbed the Division II lead with 171 points after a 77 at Legends; Richard Chua and Fernando Lim likewise seized control in Division III with 178 points after an 84, also at Legends, in the event backed by year-round sponsor Royal Caribbean/Baron Travel, hole-in-one sponsors Ogawa, Alpine Motors Philippines, Toyota Silang, Pagcor Casino Filipino and Klio International.

Rodolfo Faustino III and Ed Camacho shot 81 points at Legends for 173 points as they got past Timothy Zarcal and Arvin Yu, who scored 69 at Legends for 169 in Division IV; while Miguel and Reyes’ 171 kept them a point ahead of Robert Tan and Ronald Bairan, who put in a 74 for 170, in Division V play of the tournament supported by Platinum sponsors The Turf Company, Inc., CWC International Corp. and Newport World Resorts and gold backers Agrexplore Corp., Alpha Quality (GFX) Leads Agriculture/Malveda Properties Development Corp., Mikro-Tech Capital, Inc./Capital One Energy, Inc., The Manor and The Forest Lodge at Camp John Hay.

The silver sponsors are Abomar Equipment Sales Corp., Club Leisure Management Corp., First Global Conglomerate, Camaya Coast, Le Chef, Inc., Mit-Air, Inc. and Prestige Golf Access & Clubshares, Inc. while making up the bronze sponsors list are Absolute Sales Corp., Ayala Land Premier, Boeing Material Handling Corp., Camp John Hay Golf Club, Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose Law Offices, Coca-Cola Beverages Phil., Escala Tagaytay, Federal Management & Maintenance, Inc., Forest Hills Golf and Country Club, Gamboa & Sons, Inc. (GranSportivo), GG&A Clubshares, G&W Clubshares, Golforce, Inc., GolfX; Hydrotech Irrigation and General Services, Mitsukoshi Motors Phils., Inc., MRT Dev’t. Corp., Nozomi Providers, Inc., RFM Corp., PBR Law Offices, PNOEZ Golf Accessories Shop (Southwoods Clubfitter), Smart Probe, Inc., Sojitz Fuso Philippines Corp., Suijin Restaurant, TimeCargo Logistics Corp., Triframe, Inc. and Warbird Securities.