Menilio Narciso carried the fight for the Davao City Golf Club on Friday’s penultimate round firing a tournament division best 43 points to lift the Matina parbusters within striking distance from leader Malaysia Eagle Hunters with 18 holes left in the 74th Philippines Airlines Seniors Interclub in Cebu.
Today’s final round begins with the Malaysians holding on to a precarious 16-point lead and in golf, that is not as high to climb as Mt. Everest.
Thus, the final round in the country’s major team tournament will put the Dabawenyos in the hunt for the Friendship division crown against the Malaysians.
Narciso’s 43 was ably backed up by the 34 of veteran Benhur Villarosa and the 26 of Erwin Alzate. The obscure 20 of Napoloen Manajero went inconsequential. Depending on how Narciso, Villarosa, Manajero and Alzate will fare, the Matina golfers are out for its finest finish in years.
The other Davao teams did not fare any better on Friday.
Rancho Palos Verdes dropped to 5th in the Sportswriter division, Lanang dipped to 9th in the Aviator division and Apo further down to 14th in the tough Founders.
Johan Dalmacio fired 35 for RPV in the third round with Nerio Sotto adding 31 and Eugenio Serado 30 chipping in for the day’s 96 tally. Carlito Dublan’s 20 did not count.
Oscar Rebosura fired 39 for Apo which also got 39 from Hilario Baluso and 29 from Quintin Singson for 110 points. Al Rey Ceniza’s 29 did not count.
Lanang carded 110 points for the day for a respectable 9th place behind Robert Plana’s 39, Dennis Salvador’s 48 and Alberto Belen’s 33. The 31 of George Cabebe was a non-factor.
The main battle remained with the stranglehold of home squad Cebu Country Club.
Carl Almario and Jufil Sato fired eight-over-par 80s worth 46 points each on Friday, enough for Cebu Country Club to stay atop the overall race with Luisita the new pursuer just two points behind.
Almario, the ex-pro, and Sato saw action for the second straight round and the home bets tallied 133 for the day at Club Filipino in Danao for 423 overall, 33 points ahead of The Orchard in the lower Founders Division race but with an eye on the bigger prize as the 72-hole championship winds down at well-manicured Alta Vista Saturday.
Antonio San Juan’s 41 counted as the last Cebu CC score, while the Luisitans were led by the 48 of Benjie Sumulong in a third round 138. Manila Southwoods grabbed second spot in the centerpiece division with a 134 for 416, seven behind in the overall racem after drawing 48 points from Jun Jun Plana and 46 from Joseph Tambunting.
Luisita will have a very potent roster coming out for the final day, and Jeric Hechanova, the non-playing skipper, is happy at how things turned out after the third skirmish.
“We are happy and confident because we have a very solid team tomorrow,” Hechanova said as Chino Raymundo, ex-pro Dan Cruz, Steve McDonald and rookie Marty Ilagan come out for the final 18. “Our lineup for four days, it seems, is working.
“The game plan for today was to not be left behind by that much,” Hechanova explained.. “But we were lucky and fortunate that we sliced the lead of Cebu.”
Eric Deen, Nelson Yuvallos, Kyu Ok on and Jay Yuvallos, who scored 53 points on Thursday in Cebu CC’s second round 140, will come out for the final round for the Cebuanos, even as ,Southwoods will have the same four on the course.
Cangolf, meanwhile, got 48 points from Abe Rosal, 41 from Zaldy Villa and 36 from Rene Unson in a 125 for 413, now 10 points behind and with a lot of load left on the shoulders of Abe Avena, Damas Wong, Mari Hechanova and Rolly Viray for the Sugar Barons’ title repeat bid.
Complete scores:
CHAMPIONSHIP – Luisita 421(146,137,138), Manila Southwoods 416(143,139,134), Canlubang 413(155,133,125), Delmonte 392(139,126,127)
FOUNDERS – Cebu Country Club 1 423(150,140,133), The Orchard 390(139,127,124), Riviera 389(141,126,122), Valley 366(122,122,122), Pueblo de Oro 363(125,111,127), Alabang 362(122,123,117), Sherwood Hills 361(132,111,118), Eagle Ridge 358(119,111,128), Villamor Airbase 356(130,117,109), Negros Occidental 355(129,117,109),Filam Hawaii 354(128,111,115), Wack Wack 352(121,125,106), Alta Vista 1 352(125,119,108), Apo 349(132,107,110), Camp John Hay 336(125,119,108), Guinhalaran 334(104,130,100), Manila 313(103,100,110), Taotao Mona 305(118,80,107), Coral Ocean Point 279(88,109,82), Bay City 221(86,67,68)
AVIATOR – Mimosa 374(103,141,130), Iloilo 360(123,119,118), Camp Aguinaldo 350(94,139,117), Zamboanga 342(113,124,105), SF Maharlika 338(105,143,90), Sarangani 336(110,117,109), Cebu Country Club 2 334(114,115,105), Forest Hills 321(101,114,106), Lanang 314(98,106,110), Team Tuga 307(104,103,100), Via Verde LA 306(93,97,116), Boggie Buddies Filgolfers 302(91,111,100), Baguio 300(87,108,105), Bacolod 300(86,115,99), Southern California Redhawk 299(99,106,94), Guam Seals 292(84,103,105), Bay Area 2 266(83,91,92), Lumbia 266(78,93,95), Iligan 262(73,84,105), E-Yona 260(95,83,82), Forth Bonifacio 245(74,83,88), Liloan 244(72,94,78), SF Peninsula 219(73,78,68), Guam Compadres 204(70,54,80)
SPORTSWRITER – Club Filipino de Cebu 343(133,98,112), Edwin Airforce Base 305(98,89,118), MSU Marawi 297(107,81,109), San Juanico 295(111,93,91), Rancho Palos Verdes 292(105,91,96), Paoay 287(103,88,96), Leyte 285(114,66,105), Eagle Ridge Lagitek 284(91,90,103), Dirab 281(114,75,92), PingGolfer’s 281(109,85,87), SFO Alliance of Golfers 276(96,98,82), Van City 1 276(83,96,97), Vancouver 275(95,90,90), Cotabato 275(86,96,93), Guam Seniors 271(111,62,98), PGA British Columbia 269(87,94,88), SFO East Bay Club265(93,93,79), Mabuhay Golf of SFO 264(83,82,99), Club Intramuros 257(103,92,62), Camp Evangelista 262(88,72,102), Filam Fairfield 248(79,66,103), Seattle 244(83,67,94), UP Tee Jots 241(86,65,90), Honolulu 207(74,72,61)
FRIENDSHIP – Malaysian Eagle Hunters 316(101,105,102), Davao City 300(99,98,103), West Highlands 291(97,92,102), West Highlands 291(97,92,102), Veterans 285(78,88,119), Canphil 284(112,82,92), South Cotabato 270(84,94,92), Engineers and Architects (Eagle) 268(70,106,92), West Covina Warriors 251 (74,92,85), Travelers 248(45,99,104), Par Breakers 246(87,68,91), Fil Oz Sydney 244(63,99,84), Mt Malindang 235(83,63,89), Filam SFO 227(76,65,86), EZ Par 226(70,101,55), Pinoy Vancouver 224(62,69,93), Filam NJ 223(82,79,62), Philam Central Florida 221(49,79,93), Van City 2 214(68,76,70), Moffett Field 1 206(68,66,72), MSU Marawi 2 196(61,67,68), Brotherhood Sharp 194(46,79,69), Bennett Valley 186(61,65,60), Sky West 185(58,64,63), Tri City 184(30,81,73), Pittsburg Filam 183(64,55,64), Moffet Field 2 190(60,45,85), Filcansa 150(73,45,32)
