Luisitans target Fil-Am next
DAVAO—Luisita has reaped the first fruit of its rebuilding process and in dominant fashion returned as king of the Philippine Airlines Interclub’s Senior division.
With a 16th title in the bag after one of the most impressive performances seen in recent years, the Luisitans are now setting their sights on stamping their class on yet another prestigious team event later in the year.
“Our vision is to win both the Interclub and the Fil-Am tournaments,” nonplaying skipper Jeric Hechanova said, moments after the celebrations of an 11-point win over last year’s champion, archrival Canlubang, died down at Apo Golf here on Saturday.
“We have built, and will continue to build, this team for the long haul. Something like for the next eight to 10 years,” Hechanova went on, as even the fierce final-round charge of the Sugar Barons fell way short.
“That’s the long-term goal.”
Hechanova added four new faces and did away with the old hands that also helped make Luisita great in the past, with Edmund Yee, Allan Alegre, Raffy Garcia and Rodel Mangulabnan delivering.
Hechanova said they’re not done, “once we see the talents, and we see the need for change, we will keep on rebuilding.”
The Fil-Am is slated late November in Baguio.
While the Luisitans will be on the lookout for players that will compose the 10-man team for the Fil-Am, Canlubang, according to team owner Luigi Yulo, is keeping his team intact and vows to bounce back with aplomb next year.
“We lost just because of one round,” Yulo said. “We had a terrible opening day and that was the difference. We gave them too big of a lead.”
With what Yulo said was the worst score by the Barons in a round, a 124 on opening day, Canlubang got buried by 21 points that not even a spirited effort in the final three days could get them out of.
“Can you imagine an entire [four-man] lineup blowing up? That’s golf,” Yulo said of that first round effort. “That’s the way the ball rolls, I guess. We will keep this team and will be ready for next year.”
While both titans are going to prepare their respective squads in different manner for next year, one thing is for sure, it will still be a toss-up between Luisita and Canlubang.
That’s how things have been in the past, and from the looks of it, that rivalry will stay, even for the next eight to 10 years.
