Cebu—Jovencio Lusterio fired a one-under-par 71 for 37 points yesterday as Del Monte grabbed a one-point lead over Manila Southwoods in the Championship bracket even as the 72nd playing of the PAL Interclub here took on a new twist with Founders Division campaigner Cebu Country Club taking the overall lead.
Del Monte tallied 121 on a demanding day at Mactan Island Golf Club, opening the door for Cebu CC, which is playing in the lower division, to grab the overall lead after also compiling 121 at Mactan for a 245 aggregate, a point ahead of the Bukidnon-based squad.
Officially, this was pulled out just once before, when an Aguinaldo team made up of former Asian Games gold medalist Ramon Brobio, Bong Lopez and Thirdy Escano won the 1988 edition, also here in Cebu, while playing in the Founders Division and eventually beating Canlubang.
This development will now have Cebu CC and Orchard, which is running second in the Founders with 231 points, joining the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the Championship in the pairings in the third round today also at Mactan.
Southwoods got a level 36 from Aidric Chan and missed grabbing a share of the Championship lead after Jae Hyun-jung was penalized two points for holing out for double bogey. The Carmona-based squad, seeking to win this event for the fifth straight year, was held down to 118 for 241.
Tagaytay Highlands, the surprise first round leader, stumbled to third spot after a measly second round 109 despite getting a tournament best 40 points from Jolo Magcalayo.
Luisita continued to bring up the rear of the compact Championship field after a 114, 11 points off the pace.
“Things like this happen,” Escano, Southwoods’ non-playing skipper said of the second bad round of his charges. “We are now due for two good rounds. I’m not worried.”
Noel Langamin accounted for 34, Joel Bernaldez 27 and Crispin Aparilla 23 to complete scoring for Del Monte, which threw away the 20 of Julius Langamin.
Masaichi Otake matched Jung’s 28 and the veteran Jun Jun Plana contributed 26 for Southwoods, which discarded the 25 of Sean Ramos.
Highland’s undoing was failing to get anyone to solidly back up Magcalayo, with the next best score being the 24 of Lisandro Opulencia.
This year’s Interclub is sponsored by Radio Mindanao Network, Asian Air Safari, and Vanguard Radio Network. Also extending support are ABS-CBN Global Ltd. (The Filipino Channel), Rolls Royce, Primax Broadcasting Network, UM Broadcasting Network (Mindanao), Fox Sports, Cignal TV, GECAS, Boeing, Lufthansa Technik AG, Manila Standard, Marco Polo Plaza Cebu, Dusit Thani Manila, and Casino Filipino. Official hotel is Quest Hotel Conference Center Cebu.
The partial results after two rounds:
CHAMPIONSHIP – Del Monte 243 (122-121), Manila Soutwoods 241 (125-116),
Tagaytay Highlands 233 (124-109), Luisita 232 (118-114)
FOUNDERS – Cebu Country Club 245 (124-121), The Orchard 231 (121-110),
Riviera Golf 227 (112-115), Valley Golf 225 (108-117), Forest Hills 223
(110-113), Apo Golf and Country Club 218 (101-117), Sherwood Hills 206
(101-105), Negros Occidental 197 (106-91), Southern California Redhawks
193 (93-100), Fil Am Golf Tour 1 171 (87-84), Par 2000 151 (58-93)
SPORTSWRITERS – Mactan Island 172 (92-89), Camp John Hay 170 (81-89),
Fil Am Fairfield 165 (79-86), Guinhalaran 159 (77-82), Camp Evangelista
155 (81-74), Bacolod 152 (70-82), Up Yee Jots 161 (72-79), Bay Area 149
(77-72), Sarangani 146 (75-71), Fil Am Hawaii 144 (61-83), Filipino
Golfers in the Middle East Dubai 143 (68-75), PGA British Columbia 135
(66-69), Cotabato 125 (47-78), Lanang 123 (56-67), Seattle 123 (60-63),
Fil Am Golf Tour 2 113 (56-57), Cattle Creek 108 (59-49), Green Tee Club
Riyadh 93 (44-49), Geen Hills West 78 (35-43), Greater Vancouver Golf
Assoc 57 (18-39)