Quibol sizzles as Eastridge grabs solo lead; Southwoods mounts rally

MANILA, Philippines -- Jhondie Quibol produced a tournament-best 43 points, a scorching seven-under 65 in stroke play, as Eastridge took the solo lead with a 112, holding off Manila Southwoods in the third round of the PAL Interclub Men’s Regular golf tournament at Del Monte Golf Club in Bukidnon Sunday.

“Sobrang ganda na driving at putting ko,” said Quibol, 25, and one of the six Davao-born players in the Eastridge team, which started the pivotal round in joint lead with Del Monte.

Hiking its output to 323 points, Eastridge surged ahead by five points over the defending champions as Del Monte dropped to third after a 98.

Alexander Bisera and Edison Tabalin backed Quibol with 36 and 33 points for Eastridge.

But Southwoods mounted its charge with 115 points, closing in on Eastridge at 318 heading to the final round back at Pueblo de Oro in Cagayan de Oro Monday.

Ryan Monsalve led the Carmona-based squad’s attack with 39 points while fellow pro-bound players Aidric Chan and Lanz Uy matched 38 points. Masaichi Otake’s 36-point effort didn’t count in the four-to-play, three-to-count format event.

“We played very well today, my last man scored even par and did not count,” said Southwoods non-playing captain Thirdy Escaño. “Another one like this should be able us to do the job. Let’s hope for the best.”

In contrast, Del Monte, which led in the first round at Pueblo, failed to make significant headway on their home turf, ending up with 98 points to fall to third place at 309, now 14 points behind Eastridge.

Raul Miñoza, who will also join the Philippine Golf Tour Qualifying School in Davao this week, shot 35 points, while Julius Bautista and Romeo Jaraula added 34 and 29 points, respectively.

South Pacific Davao, led by Nino Villacencio’s 36 points. remained a distant fourth with 264.

Bracing for another Southwoods’ charge, Eastridge will pin its hopes on Ronel Taga-an, Jeffren Lumbo, Chris Remata and Gary Sales, while the ninth-title seeking team will be bannered by Shinichi Suzuki, Zach Castro, Miko Granada and Otake.

In the Founders division, Cebu Country Club stayed at the helm with 290 points after a 96 but Valley Golf threatened at 286 with 97 points, and Pueblo de Oro, behind its 103 points, is in third with 282 points.

Julius Neri led CCC with 33 points while Mark Dy and Peter Po added 32 and 31 points, respectively.

Valley leaned on Tom Marcelo’s 35 points, Marvin Mendoza’s 32 and Meynard Ko’s 30, while Pueblo drew 37 points from Mark Javier and a pair of 33s from Seve Gonzales and Gerard Arriola.

Del Monte Team 2 is in fourth with 279 followed by Forest Hills with 274.