THE beauty of the just-ended 65th San Miguel Fil-Am Golf Invitational in Baguio City lies not only on how Anthony de Leon and his elite group, which included Ely Lagman, Shean Bedi, Freddie Mendoza, Abdullah Mastura, Tim Allen and Andrew Pinero (include Louie Sison, of course), had again expertly run the tournament, but also on the fact that the hottest parbusters from the amateur backyard had displayed once more their wares to the hilt—making the event a clubhouse fare anew for years and years to come.
Indeed, there is no golf tournament so fitting enough to end the year for its prestige and undiminished luster than the Fil-Am, a product of extraordinary proportions that it has become the perennial envy of other events not only here but worldwide, as well.
And so Anthony, take a bow, please?
Manila Southwoods deserves thunderous applause, too, for establishing a whopping 35-point victory over VenturesLink-AAV Builders-Robros in the Fil Championship, which was easily one of the biggest winning margins—if not the biggest—in Fil-Am history.
National players Justin Quiban and Tonton Asistio led Southwoods’s blistering charge in the company of veteran Jun Jun Plana, Chepe Dulay, Yuto Katsuragawa and Joseph Tambunting in the five-to-play, four-to-count Stableford format that gives 1 point to a bogey, 2 for par and 3 for birdie in the series presented by Toyota.
Quiban, a Southeast Asian Games mainstay, opened Southwoods’s attack with a day-best, five-under-par 41 points at Camp John Hay and followed that up with a two-under-par 38. He sustained his fiery form with a pair of two-over-par 34s at the tricky and difficult Baguio Country Club.
Still, Quiban’s effort was barely enough to defeat fellow national stalwart Rupert “Dodong” Zaragosa, whose 40-37-35-34 fell short by a measly one point in the thrilling, excitement-filled individual competitions won by Quiban.
Zaragosa’s sterling show was not enough, though, to overhaul Southwoods, and the VenturesLink team of Nilo Mercado lacked the firepower needed to give a decent fight against Quiban and company.
But newcomer San Miguel Corp. gave a good accounting of itself despite its youth-laden lineup of Ira Christian Alido, JP de Claro, Lanz Uy and GJ Katigbak (“oldest” at 21) assembled by former pro Eddie Bagtas. SMC finished third, beating defending champion Mizuno by tiebreak after both had ended up tied at 496.
The third-place trophy went to SMC due to a rule using the no-count score to break the deadlock. Bagtas scored a no-count 26 against Mizuno’s no-count 24, from Mizuno’s Ace Stehmeier on the fourth and final day.
But Tonito Payumo of Am-Championship Mizuno stole the spotlight when he scored a hole-in-one on a par-4. For lack of records, Tonito’s feat on No. 10 of Camp John Hay became the tournament’s recorded hole-in-one on a par-4 in Fil-Am lore.
And because the ace came on a par-4, it was worth 6 points—not 5 that is allotted to a hole-in-one on a par-3.
“It’s incredible and it’s divine intervention,” said an ecstatic Tonito, a vice president of First Gen specializing on finance/logistics, of his first hole-in-one although he had scored an albatross (double-eagle) twice already at Valley Golf.
At Fil-Am Golf, happy surprises abound.
Till next year.
THAT’S IT Happy anniversary on Wednesday to Ricky and Aya Sadiwa, whose kids Mayasoh and Ikap are the eternal source of joy to their grannies together with their cousins Kuya Momo, Ate Dada and Kuya Biley. Cheers!