SUPER FIRE 7

CEBU CITY – Defending champion Manila Southwoods saw its overnight lead reduced to 12 points by main challenger Eastridge Golf Club halfway through the 74th Philippine Airlines Men’s Interclub golf team championships on Thursday.
Eastridge, a team reinforced by top Davao golfers, outscored the Carmona-based squad, 135-133, at the more difficult Club Filipino de Cebu as both squads braced for the final half of the race.
Veteran Junjun Plana, the top scorer at the Cebu Country Club on Wednesday, failed to count with 28 points but the rest of his teammates picked up the cudgels to make sure Southwoods remains comfortably on top.
Ryan Monsave and Lanz William Uy each shot 35 points to lead the defending champions while Shinichi Suzuki and Masaichi Otake contributed 34 and 29, respectively.
“We were five points short of our target today, but we kind of expected this. We could not possibly get the best score every day,” said Southwoods non-playing captain Thirdy Escano.
However, he stressed the importance of doing better against Eastridge when they return to Club Filipino de Cebu on Friday.
“I don’t care about the score as long as the boys beat Eastridge,” he said. “That’s the only time I can get a good sleep on the eve of the final round.”
Eastridge struck through Ronel Tagaan’s 36 points to make its move.
Tagaan, one of a handful of former Davao caddies in the team, mixed three birdies with the same number of bogeys to score the day’s best effort.
Zachary Villaroman, the 15-year-old son of renowned coach Carito Villaroman, bounced back from a poor performance at CCC with 35 points.
Chris John Remata added 34 while Edison Tabalin chipped in 30.
Southwoods has a 36-hole total of 274 while Eastridge has 262.
Pre-tournament favorite Cebu Country Club posted 130 to keep its hold of third spot with 256.
Jacob Cajita sparkled for CCC with 36 while Jufil Sato added 35. Bayani Garcia and Jon Joseph Alvarez rounded out scoring with 30 and 29, respectively.
Rounding out the standings in the championship division were Del Monte 240, Valley 237, Tagaytay Highlands 232, Pueblo de Oro 212 and Sta. Elena 202.
In the Founders division, Alabang extended its lead over Orchard by eight points after collecting 113 points also at Club Filipino de Cebu.
Anthony See led Alabang with 33 points followed by Christopher Popp 30, Juan Ibazeta 26 and Marc Lamberto Reyes 24.
Alabang now has 233 points.
Orchard drew 36 points from Kim Tae Soo to shoot 112 and 225 overall. Other scorers were Kim Tae Won 28, Young Sook Kim 27, and Beejay Chua 21.
Forest Hills matched Alabang’s output to stay in third place with 224.
The annual event, held with the theme “Back to Ignite,” is supported by platinum sponsors ABS-CBN Global, Asian Journal, Airbus, and NUSTAR Resort and Casino.
Gold sponsors include Radio Mindanao Network, Mastercard, Memories FM 89.9 Cebu, University of Mindanao Broadcasting Network, PLDT/Smart, and Konsulta MD.
Joining the event as silver sponsors are Philippine National Bank (PNB), Biocostech, and VISA.
Minor sponsors are Bollore Logistics, Manila Standard, Tanduay Brands International, and Asia Brewery while donors are the Department of Tourism, Ogawa, Newport World Resorts, Rolls Royce, and Boeing.

Complete scores:

Championship – Manila Southwoods 274(141-133), Eastridge 262(127-135), Cebu 256(126-130), Del Monte 240(113-127), Valley Golf 237(116-121), Tagaytay Highlands 232(119-113), Pueblo de Oro 212(111-101), Sta Elena 202(114-88) 
Founders – Alabang 233(120-113), The Orchard 225(113-112), Forest Hills 224(111-113), Riviera 219(114-105), Wack Wack 215(107-108), Villamor Air Base212(110-102), Camp Aguinaldo 211(120-91), Negros Occidental 210(116-94), Southern California Redhawks 208(109-99), Team Brookside 200(99-103), Camp John Hay 200(99-101), Apo 189(90-99),  
Aviator – Alta Vista 217(101-116), Cebu Country Golf 2 209(96-113), Zamboanga 203(101-102), Summit Point 197(94-103), Manila 196(95-103), Eagle Ridge 194(86-108), Sherwood Hills 191(97-94), Britanikka 1 184(79-105), Rancho Palos Verdes 174(76-98), Tagaytay Midlands 174(76-98), Fairways and Bluewater 170(79-91), Up Tee Jots 167(82-85), Lumbia 157(65-92), Fil-Am Fairway 1 152(68-84), Guinhalaran 149(72-77), Bacolod 147(61-86), Golden Gate 144(73-71), Fil Am Hawaii 144(71-73),  Fil Am Fairfield 143(54-89), Iligan 142(63-81) 

Sportwriters – Club Filipino Inc de Cebu 194(102,92), Davao 183(105-78), Sarangani 181(85-96), Seattle 178(75-103), Camp Evangelista 176(94-82), South Cotabato 171(83-88), West Highland 167(81-86), The Firm Eagle Ridge 166(81-85),  Filam LA Team 1 165(86-79), Negros Intl 158(80-78), Leyte 157(94-63), South Pacific Davao 156(77-79), San Juanico 146(71-75), Lanang 144(72-72), Filipino Golfer in the Middle East Dubai 139(98-41), Silicon Valley Golfers Link 136(59-77), MSU Golf & Country Club Marawi 1  125(66-59), PGA British Columbia 113(66-57), Pearl Kai Hawaii 90(55-35), Yokohama Eagles 76(44-320,  

Friendship – Alta Vista 171(81-90), Apo 151(80-71), Eagle Ridge Lagitek 142(80-62), Liloan 141(62-81) Davao City Team B 141(71-70), Edwin Andrews Air Base 141(65-76), Van City 141(75-66), Veterans 131(66-67), Paraiso Golf Players Association Team B 124(68-58), Greenhills West 121(61-62), Cotabato 119(49-70), Baguio 114(59-55), Filipino Golfers in the Middle East UAE 113(58-55), Mt Malindang 104(55-49),  Green Tee Club Riyadh 103(52-51), Paraiso Golf Players Association 95(35-60), UAE Filgolfers 87(41-46), Fil-Am Golf of Sacramento 84(40-44), Caaga 79(45-34), Fil Oz Sydney 28(16-12) 

Eastridge's Ronel Tagaan makes a putt at Club Filipino de Cebu during the second round of the 74th Philippine Airlines Interclub golf team championships in Cebu City on Thursday. Tagaan shot the day's best score of 36 points. (Photo by Alan Tangcawan)