It’s official: Dynasty-seeking Luisita bags PAL Seniors crown

DAVAO—Using a huge overnight lead as buffer, Luisita played its worst round of the week but still won the Philippine Airlines Senior Interclub title with plenty to spare and touch off what could be a dynasty for the next decade or so.

Pooling just 139 points over an Apo Golf layout here that got tougher because of swirling winds all of Saturday, the Luisitans still made their return atop the hill with a 594 tally, 11 points better than hard-charging Canlubang and 24-up on Del Monte.

Rodel Mangulabnan was steadiest with a four-over-par 76 worth 50 points, with former pro Eddie Bagtas struggling to shoot 45 and either 44s of Jingy Tuason and Allan Alegre counting for Luisita, which came here with four new recruits and got rewarded immediately.

“We built this team to stay together for the next eight to 10 years,” said a jubilant Jeric Hechanova, responsible for recruiting Mangulabnan, Edmund Yee, Alegre and Raffy Garcia from different clubs.

“We saw last year [in Pampanga] that we needed new blood, and that’s what we did,” he said after helping the squad win its 16th title, the most by any team in the division.

The Sugar Barons didn’t come out of the final round to just roll over and die after starting the day 24 shots behind, getting 52s from Abe Rosal and Dave Hernandez and 46 from Rene Unson to salvage second place.

Cangolf’s consolation was Rosal’s victory in the individual race after tallying 105 points. The rookie scored 53 at Palos Verdes on Thursday.

But unlike the Luisitans, the Barons aren’t about to tinker with this roster despite the loss, with skipper Luigi Yulo ruing just one bad round as the reason for their failure to repeat.

Del Monte, which was second all the way until the third round, shot 129 and settled for third, but got the needed exposure to make it a three-cornered race starting next year.