Jet Hernandez and Josh Jorge combined for seven-under 61 and emerged the best in four-ball to wrest control at the start of the National Doubles Amateur Golf Championship at the Camp Aguinaldo Golf Club in QC yesterday.
Hernandez and Jorge produced eight birdies in their first team-up under the best-ball format, barely missing turning in a solid round with a three-putt miscue on the par-4 No. 5 of the short but tight par-68 course. They settled for a two-shot lead over Jed Dy and Bianca Pagdanganan, who pooled a 63, in the season-ending tournament of the National Golf Association of the Philippines and held as part of the PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour.
“We just clicked and came up with birdies of our own,” said Hernandez and Jorge, who however blew another birdie try on the closing par-5 hole.
Dy, a former junior world champion, and Pagdanganan, a former Philippine Ladies Amateur Open titlist and bronze medalist in the recent Asian Games, matched Hernandez and Jorge’s strong 32 start and the leaders’ back-to-back birdies from No. 10. But they bogeyed the par-4 14th, which Hernandez and Jorge birdie for a clutch two-shot swing that shoved them on top of the 16-pair field.
Lanz Uy and Ryan Monsalve pooled a 64 for third while the Kristine Torralba-Santino Laurel and Sean Ramos-Gabby Macalaguim pairs assembled identical 65s to stay in the title hunt in the event sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation and backed by Cignal and Metro Pacific and Camp Aguinaldo.
But unless the top five teams sustain their superb opening round performances, a shake-up in the Group I leaderboard could ensue as play shifts to aggregate, where the scores of each player will be added for the team’s score, in today’s second round.
Tomorrow’s final round will feature the two-ball foursomes or alternate shot.
Meanwhile, registration for the 2019 Philippine Amateur Open Golf Championship is ongoing. For details, call NGAP at telefax No. (02) 7065926 or at Riviera Golf Club, Inc. at (02) 888-9089 or 0956-8821149 email [email protected].
The country’s premier championship, set Jan. 3-6 at Riviera’s Langer course, features the men’s and ladies categories with titles in the special divisions for boys and girls also to be disputed.
Matching par 68s are the tandems of Masaichi Otake-Rald Sarmiento and Paqo Barro and Jeff Jung, while Don Petil, winner last year with Paolo Wong, and new partner JR Salahug struggled with a 69 for joint eighth with Samantha Martirez and Diana Araneta.
Rafael Rivera and Ciaran O’Driscoll carded a 70 to grab the Group II lead, two shots ahead of Miguel Roque and Santino Diokno, while Jermaine Melosantos and Cedric Aunzo limped with a 78.
Louie Aguinaldo and Beleran Col, on the other hand, matched par 68 to open a two-stroke lead over JB Liclican and Rey Manuel in Group III with Mon Capistrano and Vic Se staying within striking distance with a 72.