MANILA Southwoods started with a bang and posted a mammoth 22-point lead to kick off their title-retention bid for the Fil Championship crown on Tuesday in the 69th Fil-Am Invitational Golf Tournament.
Carl Corpus had three birdies and two bogeys for the first subpar round at the short and very tricky Baguio Country Club (BCC)—a one-under par 60 for 37 points for Southwoods.
Yuto Katsuragawa had a 35 points, while Aidric Chan and Aguri Iwasaki chipped in 34 and 32 points, respectively, for the reigning champions, whose “elder” member Junjun Plana did not count with a 30.
Cousins Corpuz and Chan are only 17, while the two Japanese are 20, giving Southwoods an average age of 18-and-half-years. Plana? He debuted in the tournament in 1982 and played for Southwoods in 1997.
Luigi Paolo Wong and Nic Gatmaytan made 31 points and with Carlo Villaroman’s 28 and Richard Joson’s 26, Royal Northwoods ran second with 116—nine up on Forest Hill which drew 29 from Rupert Zaragosa, 28 from Dan Co and 26 and 24 from Jude Eustaquio and Inigo Raymundo, respectively.
Mizuno was a distant fourth with 99 points.
“We came here prepared and we only need to play good for us to win. I always tell the boys to be prepared for a tournament,” Southwoods captain Thirdy Escano said.
The team has been playing for a month in preparation for the Fil-Am and Escano said that although they do not frequent Baguio City to practice, they try to go to a course that approximates the BCC and Camp John Hay layouts.
The two Japanese, Escano added, have trained for the tournament for the past month on local courses.
BCC, meanwhile, took advantage of an Ultraflight Golf Club I meltdown to take an 11-stroke lead in Fil B at their par-61 home course.
The cohosts almost matched their first day output with 101 for a 205 going into the longer CJH course in the third round.
Jef Razon had a team best 30 points to lead BCC, while Euls Austin, Goody Ignacio and Ely Lagman made 26, 24 and 21 points, respectively, to count for the team.
Day one leader Ultraflight collapsed with a 73 after an eye popping 121 on Day One, so far is the best score at the BCC.
Butch Bakunawa led Ultraflight with 24 points, after a first round 14 which did not count. But his teammates fared miserably with Antonio Guttierez shooting 19 (from 30), Sonny Tiglao 16 (from 26) and Cocoy Sulaik falling to 14 from a three-over 33 the day before.
Baguio Summer Capital stayed at third spot after an 88 for 180 points to keep a one-point lead over Cool Jocks (89 points). Four other teams were within striking distance—Rural Bankers II and TGIS Davao with 177s after rounds of 88 and 85, respectively, and CJH tied Ventureslink-Robros-Jayworks with 175 after rounds of 88 and 85.