MANILA, Philippines—Wack Wack pulled itself out of a deep hole with a rousing win at home to defeat Alabang in the semifinals and arrange a showdown with Valley for the 2011 Men’s Federation Golf League championship.
Losing, 1.5-3.5, in the away game against Alabang, Wack Wack earned three quick wins in formats that featured Tommy Manotoc and son Gabby got the clinching victory in scramble through Sammy Sy and Hubert Lim, who erased a two-hole deficit by taking four of the last six holes.
John Gobing and Buddy Velayo added a draw to the near sweep to complete a 4-1 reversal for Wack Wack and a 5.5-4.5 overall result that sent the Mandaluyong club back to the finals after winning their first and only league title in 2001.
Valley gave itself another crack at the crown by turning back Eastridge, 6.5-3.5, in the other semifinal match
The tandems of Zaldy Villa-Edmund Yee (best-ball), Damasus Wong-Jeff Bernaldez (scramble), Butch Bakunawa-Kirby Lachica (High-Low) and Adrian Mauricio-Joey Ramoso (aggregate) delivered the killing blows for Valley which posted a 4-1 win at home after forging a 2-2 draw at Eastridge.
Three easy wins in scramble, high-low and aggregate settled the issue for Valley which lost to Riviera last year and Villa-Yee put the icing on the cake with a 1 up win.
Tommy Manotoc combined with Lito Tan for a 6&5 win in greensomes and Gab Manotoc helped Kit Lopez secure a 7&6 triumph in high-low that set the tone for Wack Wack big comeback.
By the time Tootsie de Jesus and EJ Marcelo abbreviated their aggregate rivals, the task of finishing the job was left to Sy-Lim and Gobing-Velayo.
Alabang threw it away as Marvin Caparros and Justin Quiban wilted under pressure while Jay-Art Tugade and JB Garcia were already three up after 12 holes only to falter down the stretch.