SEA Games veteran Sean Ramos and Gabby Macalaguim used a strong start to wrest control then banked on a stronger finish to stay ahead with a seven-under 61, one up on Lanz Uy and Ryan Monsalve at the start of the National Doubles Amateur Golf Championship at Camp Aguinaldo Golf Club yesterday.
Ramos and Macalaguim dished out top form coming off the holiday break, birdying five of the first 10 holes then recovering from mishaps on Nos. 11 and 13 with birdies in the last four to hold off an equally hot-starting Uy-Monsalve tandem under the four-ball format of the National Golf Association of the Philippines’ closing event for 2019.
Uy and Monsalve actually sizzled with five birdies in a solid stint after 12 holes but fumbled with a bogey on the par-3 16th, needing to birdie the last two to shoot a 62 and hound the Ramos-Macalaguim pair heading to today’s second round where play shifts to aggregate format.
Sunday’s final round will be two-ball foursomes (alternate shot).
While the other fancied pairs struggled in best-ball play, Aries Mata and Lawrence Celestino struck back from a frontside even-par game with five birdies against a bogey at the back of the 36-32 military layout, shooting a 64 for third while reigning Indonesian Amateur Open champion Luis Castro and Andres Lorenzo also rallied with a 29 to stay in the mix with 65.
Four other teams also churned out three-under cards, including Santino Diokno-Miguel Roque, Jonar Austria-Marco Olives, Gab Manotoc-Carlo Quimson, and Jed Dy-Mikha Fortuna, ensuring a spirited battle for top honors in the three-day event sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation and held as part of the PLDT National Amateur Golf Tour and backed by Cignal and Metro Pacific Investments.
Young Rianne Malixi, eyeing a fourth championship in the season about to end, and Precious Zaragosa settled for a 66 while Menard Co and Roy Nodalo shot a 67 for joint 11th with Paolo Barro and Laia Barro and Samantha Martirez and Diana Araneta matched par 68s in a tie with the tandems of Josh Jorge-Santino Laurel, Rald Sarmiento-Masaichi Otake, Luigi Guerrero-Dan Cruz, and Tomita Arejola-Nicole Abelar.
Meanwhile, registration for the 2020 National Stroke Play Championship set Jan. 7-10 at Riviera’s Langer course 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 ngap2009handicap@yahoo.com.
Ramos, who with Castro and absentees Aidric Chan and Carl Corpus powered the Philippines to a bronze medal finish in team competition in the recent SEA Games, complemented well with Macalaguim’s game for that impressive start. But the duo faltered on the par-3 11th, which Uy and Monsalve birdied for a two-shot swing that kept the two teams tied at four-under.
The Uy-Monsalve pair even grabbed a two-shot lead with another birdie on the next coupled with Ramos and Macalaguim’s bogey on No. 13 but the latter birdied No. 15 and gained on a two-shot swing on the 16th (birdie-bogey) before matching their rival’s birdie-birdie windup to regain control of the 24-team field.
In Group II division, Sophia Blanco and Alexi Blanco shot a 67 to post a two-shot lead over Jona Magcalayo and Sunshine Zhang, who carded 69, with Larry Patnongon and Jaime Patnongon four strokes behind at 71 while the Dexter Pelias-Titus Aguilar and Jimmy Suelo-Romeo Lopez tandems shared the Group III lead with 69s, one shot ahead of Ricky Velasco and Ramon Capistrano.