Luis, Harmie take charge

Luis Castro. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Luis Castro fired a second straight one-under-par 71 and padded his lead to eight strokes, and Harmie Constantino battled back from three down to seize control in girls’ play with a 73 halfway through the Philippine Junior Amateur Golf Championship at Sherwood Hills Golf Club in Trece Martires, Cavite, on Wednesday.

While his rivals continued to struggle at the wind-raked layout, Castro sustained his fine form, nailing back-to-back birdies from No. 7 before picking up shots again on Nos. 15 and 16 for a 142 aggregate.

Sean Ramos recovered from an opening 77 with a 73 but faced a daunting task in trying to overhaul Castro’s formidable lead at 150.

Carl Corpus shot a 78 to be another two strokes back in the boys’ division with Paolo Wong shooting a 77 for 154.

While Castro has lined himself up for the runaway win, a tight race has shaped up in the distaff side with Constantino leading Junia Gabasa, who carded a 77, by a shot.