THE Philippines continued to struggle in the face of topnotch opposition in the World Amateur Golf Team Championship, assembling an eight-over par 152 at Granger Golf Club’s (GGC) west course and falling way behind leader Sweden, which sustained its pace with a 138 in the second round of the Espirito Santo Trophy in Adelaide, Australia, on Thursday.

Chihiro Ikeda and Anya Tanpinco carded identical four-over 76s at the par-72 layout, failing again to check their skid at the backside, while ICTSI teammate Louise Manalo skied to an 82 and didn’t count for the second-straight day.

Counting their 156 at GGC’s par-73 east course on Wednesday, the RP ladies, playing against the Swedes and the Austrians for the second-straight day, pooled a 308 to crawl from joint 30th to a share of 27th with the Czech Republic (153), Finland (148) and Latvia (148).

That was 33 shots behind Sweden, which added a 138 to a sizzling 137 in the first day for a 275 aggregate, still eight strokes ahead of Spain, which also churned out a 138, and 15 shots over third-running defending champion South Africa, which had a 143.

Coach Bong Lopez and team captain and National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP) director Pablo Soon, however, hope the team to improve on their putting and play better in the last two days in a bid to crash into the top 20. 

“The girls learned a lot from playing the Swedes in the first two days and in front of large galleries. We expect them to settle down and dish out good rounds in the last two days,” said Lopez.

Ikeda dropped four strokes at the back, including a three-bogey string from No. 15, and needed to birdie No. 10 from eight feet to salvage that 76.

Tanpinco birdied Nos. 1 and 7 to cushion a three straight bogey mishap from No. 4. But the Selangor Ladies Open champion bogeyed three of the last five holes, including two three-putts, to match Ikeda’s 76.

The RP team campaign is sanctioned by the NGAP and sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Airlines as official carrier, Stradcom Corp., Dynamic Sports and LORO Shirts, the official outfitter.

After a fiery 67 in the first day, Caroline Hedwall slowed with a two-under 70, but Anna Nordqvist fired a four-under 68 to lead Sweden to another impressive outing with the duo also poised to sweep the two places in the individual championship with 137 and 138 totals, respectively.

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THE Philippines continued to struggle in the face of topnotch opposition in the World Amateur Golf Team Championship, assembling an eight-over par 152 at Granger Golf Club’s (GGC) west course and falling way behind leader Sweden, which sustained its pace with a 138 in the second round of the Espirito Santo Trophy in Adelaide, Australia, on Thursday.

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