CEBU—Carl Almario and the rest of the Cebu Country Club squad won’t be going home empty-handed after falling short in the overall race of the Philippine Airlines Senior Interclub “Back to Ignite” tournament on Saturday.
“We’re happy winning the Founders (division),” Almario who tallied 95 of Cebu CC’s 564 points for the week, said during the awarding ceremony. “But of course, it (overall title) would have been the icing on the cake. But you know, in golf, you cannot win them all.”
The Cebuanos were in control of the overall race for two days starting the second round, only to falter on the final day at Alta Vista by tallying just 141 points as Luisita completed a rally by pooling 151 that easily erased a two-point Cebu CC lead at the start of the day.
Cebu CC was just eight points shy of Luisita’s Championship division-winning total of 572 points.
It would have been the second time in recent history that the club would have pulled off the feat, doing it, also on home soil, in the Regular Men’s division which Almario was also a member of.
“I just wished we could have played better,” Almario said. “That’s how the cookie crumbles, I guess. Luisita played well. They shot decent scores and they deserved to win.”
Cebu CC won the Founders by 34 points over Orchard, their division decided as early as the third round after a 133 at Club Filipino in Danao.
Eric Deen shot a five-over-par 77 worth 49 points to lead Cebu CC in the final day, even as Kenneth Kim fired 55 to lead Orchard’s closing 140 for second place, four points better than Riviera Golf, which fired 137.
Mimosa, meanwhile, hung on to rule the Aviators class after firing a final round 97 led by the 36 of Dominico Hermoso over at Club Filipino. Mimosa finished with a 471 total, nipping SF Maharlika by three points even after shooting a 132 on the final day.
Zamboanga was another six points behind in finishing third after a 120.
Club Filipino was victorious in the Sportswriters bracket, winning it by 43 points over MSU Marawi Golf and Country Club with a 457 total. CF totaled a final round 114 at Alta Vista after getting 48 points from Nilo Seno, 36 from Leonard Arevalo and 30 from Elias Espinosa.
San Juanico Golf and Country Club was third another 13 points adrift, even as Malaysian Eagle Hunters ruled the Friendship division by 27 points over Canphil Golf Association with a 408 tally.
The annual event, considered the country’s unofficial national team championship, was shelved for two years due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the 74th staging of the event 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 Department of Tourism, Ogawa, Newport World Resorts, Rolls Royce, and Boeing.