Canlubang wins 7th PAL Interclub crown

The Cebu Country Club notched the title in the Founders division but it was the Canlubang Sugar Barons that hoisted the Championship division crown after they posted a final round 148 at the close of the Seniors division in 66th Philippine Airlines Interclub golf tournament yesterday at the Alta Vista Golf and Country Club.

The golfers of CCC finished with a total score of 555, five points clear of rivals, Alta Vista. In third was Valley Golf with 538.

Ramontito Garcia led the way with 99 points while Masatsugu Ochiai had 94 and Koichi Horii had 93. Lor Alaan added 92.

For Alta Vista, Akira Hatano paced them with 98 while Agapito Suan and Masahisa Kawakami  added 92 each. Hospicio Razon had 90.

SEVENTH

OVERALL TITLE

Meanwhile, Canlubang picked the right time to score its best round, posting 148 points to beat Luisita. It was the Sugar Barons’ third straight championship and seventh overall in eight years.

Dave Hernandez and Rolly Viray shone with 51 points each at Alta Vista as Canlubang finished with 568 points, six points ahead of Luisita.

Canlubang’s third score was 46 from either team captain Luigi Yulo or Philip Brodett.

For the third straight year, Luisita had to settle for second place, fading in the last nine holes after managing to tie Canlubang at the turn.

Minieng Maravilla led Luisita with 51 points, but Richie Garcia, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman, struggled with 47 points, a score matched by Bong Sison.

“If there’s a will, there’s a way,” said Yulo after foiling another Luisita charge.

Luisita looked good in the front nine until Garcia went out of bounds off the tee in the ninth hole to make the turn at two-over par.

It was downhill from there as Garcia dropped five more strokes in the last nine holes for 47, eight points less than his first round output.

‘I thought I hit a good five-iron tee shot. After that, I could no longer hit it cleanly,” said Garcia.

Pueblo de Oro, which led in the first two rounds, settled for third place with 531 points following a 130.

Scoring for Pueblo were Manuel Roa (46), Miguel Chiong (43) and Carlos Rubio (41).

Clifford Celdran of Pueblo edged Ramontito Garcia by a single point to win the individual title. / with PR