By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Eastridge-Primehomes won its first Philippine Airlines (PAL) Interclub men’s championship division crown in wire-to-wire style and left the rest of the opposition biting its dust with a 21-point victory over the Manila Southwoods.
“Finally. This is very sweet,” nonplaying skipper Gimo Asuncion said after the din of the celebration died down a bit at the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club.
“It has been quite a long journey for this team — a journey that had its heartaches and lessons,” he added.
Ronel Taga-an fired a three-under-par 67 worth 39 points to pace Eastridge’s closing 106 points that also counted Jeff Lumbo’s 35 and Edison Tabalin’s 32, and the Binangonan-based crew tallied 415 points to post the win running away.
“The boys performed so well,” Gary Sales, the ex-tee boy turned businessman who helped put this team together in 2021, said after failing to count by 30.
“I am very proud of what this team has done. This definitely didn’t come easy for us. We are looking forward to keeping this team intact as much as we can and [continuing] to learn as a team,” Sales said.
Asuncion said only Lumbo will be leaving the team after this tournament to turn pro, and that the club has “at least a couple of players ready to take his place.”
The dethroned champions returned to their struggles on the tree-lined, bending layout, tallying just 99 points, with Perry Bucay’s 35 leading the way.
Together with the 32s of Zeus Sara and Santino Laurel, the Carmona-based squad that was denied a sixth title in the last seven years amassed 394 points and finished comfortably in second spot.
“We will definitely be going back to the drawing board,” nonplaying Southwoods captain Thirdy Escano said as the club stands to lose some of its standouts who have standing scholarship offers in the United States.
“We gave it a good fight but just fell short,” he said.
Tagaytay Highlands-Team IMG wound up third, 40 points off Eastridge after tallying a closing 95. Terrence Macatangay fired 35 points, Masaichi Otake had 34 and Justin Tambunting rounded out the scoring with 26.
The Del Monte Golf Club brought up the rear with a 363 total after accounting for 94 fourth round points. The club successfully defended the seniors championship last week.
Meanwhile, Canlubang went on to formalize its founders division romp after totaling 97 points at the Bacolod Golf Club, where John Bernis tallied a level par 70 for 36 points to lead a final round of 97 and 381 overall.
That was good for a 15-point victory, which closed out with 98 led by the 37 points of Boby Salahog, with the Cebu Country Club checking in another six points behind after a 92 headed by Mark Dy’s 32 points.
The seasoned Abe Rosal, a hero of many Cangolf championships in the centerpiece seniors and men’s divisions in the past, contributed 31 points, with Jess Hernandez rounding out the scoring for the Sugar Barons with 30.
Riviera Golf finished fourth, a point behind Cebu as the 31s of Henry Bolano and Takuya Kawamura paced their closing 92.
Eric Escalona’s 30 was the last score that counted./ASC, WDJ