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BAGUIO
CITY—Golden Oats Plus copped its fourth straight Fil
Championship division title by foiling local favorite
Camp John Hay Golf Club in a classic final-day battle in
the seniors’ event of the 58th Fil-Am Golf Invitational
Thursday.
Wigberto
“Iggy” Clavecilla led with 34 points, a two-over-par at
the John Hay course, despite the soggy fairways and
hard-to-read greens caused by the intermittent rains
throughout the day.
“Very
deceptive ang greens. I had to think more than
three times before I executed my putts because green
speeds and slopes were so hard to read,” said Clavecilla,
who also won the individual title.
GoldenOats Plus’s Iggy
Clavecilla (above) throws his wedge in jubilation after
making a 40-foot birdie chip at John Hay’s No. 12. He
then joins teammates Bing Bunye, team manager Freddie
Mendoza, Bong Sison, team captain Eugene Arriesgado and
Florene de los Santos during the awards ceremony.
--m aurcio
victa
Bong
Sison had 32, Bing Bunye contributed 30 and Florene
delos Santos added 28 to complete Golden Oats’s 124
points for the day and 357 aggregate for 54 holes, three
clear of Camp John Hay.
“We
faced a very tough John Hay this year. But our players
were up to the challenge. We never doubted them,”
Golden Oats non-playing team captain Eugene Arriesgado
told the BusinessMirror.
Camp
John Hay, which finished with 354 points, stayed in
contention when it cuts Golden Oats’ lead from seven to
four after the third round. The Baguio-based squad
failed to capitalize on its familiarity of the course
though.
“I kept
reminding my players to just play through and forget
about the scores. It was a good thing they kept their
focus and composure,” said Golden Oats team manager
Freddie Mendoza.
Fred
Puckett tried to rally John Hay with 35 points. However,
teammates Nelson Eslao, Clyde Cabreros and
Jong Won Park
all submitted 30 apiece which accounted for the local
team’s 125 for the day. Fifth man Bjorn Andersson made a
28 and did not count in the five-to-play, four-to-count
format.
“The
guys tried their best. They just came up short in the
end,” said CJH team spokesman Jeric Hechanova.
King
Sumulong fired a day’s best three-under 66 for 39 points
for Eastridge’s 116 points to finish a distant third
with 304 points.
Over at
the Baguio Country Club, Korean Cha Moon Kyu carried the
load for Camp John Hay I and top scored with 28 points
to power his team to the Am Championship crown.
Bill
Lawrence shot a 27, Ho Kwon Kim made a 22 and Bong
Mandapat chipped in a 23 as the co-host team wound up
with 303, 11 points off Nueva Ecija GC, which finished
with 98 and 292 aggregate.
Nueva
Ecija was led by Marcelo Alfonso who shot 29 points,
with Ceasar Castro scoring 25 and the pair of 22s from
Peregrine de Guzman and former Governor Tommy Joson’s
22.
Not even
a searing rally by Capitol Hills could shake off Camp
Aguinaldo to win the ‘Am’ A division honors.
Col. Ben
Liclican led with 26 points and got 23 from Leoncio
Valderama, a 22 from Clyde Fernandez and 21 from Francis
Calma for 92 points and 270 total to win the title over
Capitol Hills, which had 31 from Ed Magnabijon for 99
and 265 aggregate to settle for second place.
Host
Baguio Country Club had 78 for 230 to salvage third
place.
Point
Five Inc. (Guam) also held off The Square & Compass Golf
Foundation and win the Am E crown. The Guamaninas had
76 on the last day for 232 points and win by five
strokes over Square & Compass, which closed with 84 for
227 points. Lakewood took third place with 208 after a
76.
The
tournament was supported by U-Bix, San Miguel
Corporation, The Travel Club, Inquirer Golf, Golforce,
Inc., Metro Rail Transit, APGC, CJH Manor Hotel, CJH
DevCo, FMMI, Starbucks, ABWealth, Sustagen Premium,
Gilligan’s, Le Chef, Club Elite, Sitel and the
University of Baguio. |
