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Regina
de Guzman is one serious junior golfer. She seldom
exhibits any emotion. She goes by her business on the
course and hardly smiles to competitors. She wants to
get the job done.
Last
week, de Guzman won the girls’ Class A of the Junior
Golf Foundation of the Philippines qualifying tournament
at the tough championship course of the Sherwood Hills
Golf Club in Trece Martirez, Cavite.
Her
prize? A free trip to the United States, courtesy of
Philippine Airlines, and more importantly, one of 12
slots on Team Philippines in the Callaway Junior World
Championships in San Diego, California.
De
Guzman, 15, carded a final-day two-over-par 74 at the
Jack Nicklaus layout, voted 85th best in the world by
Golf Digest last month, for a six-day total of 435, 20
strokes better than second-placer Bambee de la Paz.
This is
the fourth time that de Guzman, a home-study program
student of the Commission on Higher Education, will
qualify for the annual junior world tournament.
De
Guzman made it in Class C (10-12 years old) via a
runner-up finish in 2004, then repeated in Class B in
2005. She failed to qualify last year for signing a
wrong scorecard.
This
time, however, there was no slipup as the petite golfer
led from start to finish. De Guzman’s impeccable putting
gave her four birdies, sinking two 16-footers on the
fifth and 12th. She missed an eagle on No. 15 for a
third birdie. The last one came on the 17th from about
12 feet.
“It was
just another day in the office. There was no major
celebration afterwards. But make no mistake about it,
I’m happy to be in the RP contingent for the Callaway
event. I promise to do my best,” de Guzman said.
Joining
de Guzman and de la Paz in
San Diego
are Sunshine Baraquiel and Chihiro Ikeda. In the boys’
side also in Class A, John Kier Abdon, Miko Yee, Sonny
Boy Guiallon and Allan Guy are in as well.
Wolen
Superal and Angela de Villa in Class B, Miguel Tabuena
and Irina Gabasa in Class C, Miggy Yee and Princess
Superal in Class D, Lance Uy and Mia Legaspi in Class E
and David Bantug and Bernice Olivares in Class F are
also on the team.
*****
Dorothy in, J-Ro out in Oklahoma
By Adrian Flores
Dorothy
Delasin shot an even-par 71 despite windy conditions in
the second round of the SemGroup Championship Saturday
at the Cedar Ridge Country Club in Oklahoma.
Delasin
carded a three-over 74 on the first day. So far, she has
hit the fairways 21 times out of 36 holes and has
reached the greens 24 times. She carried a two-day total
145, seven shots behind leader Nicole Castrale of the
US.
Jennifer
Rosales, now fully recovered from a wrist injury, was
still rusty. She scored four-over 76 in two days for 152
and failed to make the cut pegged at 147.
Castrale,
a graduate of
University of
Southern California
who is searching for her first career Ladies
Professional Golf Association victory, also submitted an
even-par 71 for 138 and is one of four players tied at
four-under alongside Sweden’s Karin Sjodin and Americans
Stephanie Louden and Reilley Rankin.
Sjodin,
with a one-under 70, recorded her best career finish in
this event last September when she tied for seventh. She
attended Oklahoma State, just a little over an hour from
Cedar Ridge.
Louden
made her second consecutive round of 69 this week to tie
for first place at four-under par 138. Her personal best
career finish was a tie for eighth in the 2003 Wachovia
Classic hosted by Betsy King. She recorded five birdies
with three bogeys Satuday.
Rankin
notched a bogey-free round of 68 to move into a tie for
the top spot. Rankin, whose career-best finish was
fourth at the 2005 SBS Open at Turtle Bay, used three
birdies. |
