SIBLINGS Vince and Venice Tiamsic led the first batch of qualifiers by topping their respective divisions in runaway fashion in the Philippine Airlines Junior World golf qualifying tournament recently at Riviera Sports Club course in Silang, Cavite.
Venice was impressive in her rounds of 69, 67 and 64 for a 54-hole total of 200, far ahead of Izabella Friis (88-83-66-247) for the girls 6-under plum while Vince bounced back from a slow start to post scores of 62, 59 and 58 for 179 and a 15-stroke win over Santino Pineda (61-66-67-194). Friis’ elder brother, Sean, (74-63-63-200) came in third in the boys 7-8 years of the tournament backed by Philippine Airlines and serving as the third leg of the ICTSI-JGFP Summer Circuit.
PAL will provide the Tiamsics and two other division winners—Anya Cedo and Rocco Pineda—free tickets to IMG Junior World Championships in July in San Diego, California.
Cedo nipped Alexi Blanco in a sudden-death playoff for the girls’ 7-8 years while Pineda’s 84-74-79-237 was good for an eight-shot win over Julien Lhuillier (84-82-79-245).
The Tiamsics, Pinedas, Sean Friis, Lhuillier, and Cedo, will represent the country in the lower divisions of the Junior World.
The next legs of the qualifying will be at Capitol Hills in Quezon City from April 21 to 24 for the 9-10 years age-group and at Splendido Taal Golf Club course in Tagaytay on April 27 to 30 for the 11-12, 13-14 and 15-17 age-groups.