CEBU, Philippines - It may not have gone as originally planned, but the 33rd Coral Invitational of Cebu Country Club was still a success and the awards ceremony went on as scheduled Saturday night.
The tandems of Raymond Garcia and Eddie Lopez and that of Douglas Gacasan and Armand Guangko, Jr. emerged as the big winners of the event, the club’s annual member-guest tournament.
The protest staged by a group of caddies, who want to form a labor union disrupted the event on its third day, Friday, when the bag carriers blocked the gate of the club forcing the organizers to shorten this year’s edition of the tournament to an 18-hole affair. The club was opened later that day but several players were not able to play anymore.
Garcia, who was recently elected president of the Barangay Councilors League of the Philippines-Cebu City Chapter president, added another milestone to his January by taking the lowest gross honors with his partner, Lopez.
The tandem fired rounds of 79 and 73 strokes, respectively to claim the top honors. Converted into points under the Stableford Scoring System, Garcia made 29 while Lopez had 35, which also earned him the lowest individual gross honors for the tournament beating club president Ramontito Garcia in the countback.
Gacasan and Guangko bagged the overall lowest net honors with their combined effort of 80 points, beating the tandem of Rafael Suarez and Jerry Parulan, who had the same total output, in the countback.
Gacasan and Guangko each fired four-under-par 40 points and so did Suarez and Parulan, who settled for the first runner-up honors.
Second runner-up was the team of Joy Anthony Ong and Roy Damole with 78 points. Ong shot 42 points while Damole made 36.
Jacinto Limyutian (37) and his partner Albert Solis (40) settled for the third runner-up honors with a combined 77 points. Fourth runner-up was the team of Wendell Yap (38) and Benjie Hortelano (39) also with 77 points. Taking the fifth runner-up honors were Peter Po II (42) and Arnel Kwan (34) with 76 points.
Po and Kwan were also given the award for the best score on the first day of the event while the best score for the second day went to the tandem of Lor Alaan (29) and Edwin Espina (39) with 68 points. Po also bagged the lowest individual net honors beating Marc Gonzalez, Deo Gabasa and Jojo Ong in the countback.
In the seniors’ division, Ben Dapat and Carlo Magno bagged the top plum with a combined effort of 77 points. Dapat scored 40 points while Magno made 37.
First runner-up for the seniors’ class, which is for teams with a combined age of 120 years, went to Mar Selma (41) and Hermes Tangaan (33) with 74 points. Rounding up the winners’ circle was the team of Bobit Avila (34) and Sim Guinocor (36) with 70 points.
SPECIAL PRIZES
Jojo Tiongko led the winners of the special award by nailing a hole-in-one on the first day of the tournament last Wednesday.
He aced hole No. 5 using a Titleist No. 5 ball and a Tourstage No. 6 iron. The feat was witnessed by Honor Mendoza, Byeon Kwang Wook and Rico Tautho.
Two players also scored eagles during the event – Kiyofumi Takahashi last January 15 on hole No. 7 and Jerome Flores on the same hole on January 18. — PR from fullpointcebu.com