Ababa-Echavez secures Davao Nat’l pro-am by 5
DAVAO—Amateur Paul Echavez helped pro partner Edgar Ababa end a fruitless 13-year campaign as the duo coasted to a five-stroke victory with a closing one-over-par 73 Friday in the P1 million Davao National Pro-am co-presented by Samsung and Emcor at the Apo Golf and Country Club course here.
Ababa and Echavez, whose families live next to the Apo course, finished with a 54-hole total of 218 in the tournament that used the alternate-shot format. They had a 72 and a 73 in the first two days.
“We knew the course very well and it gave us a lot of confidence,” said Ababa, who won his only title as a pro in the 1997 Epson Classic at Alabang.
Ababa and Echavez were five strokes clear of the semi-retired Dan Cruz and national pool member Jerson Balasabas who submitted the day-best of 72 for 223.
Dante Torres and Alejandro Saban, the first-round leaders, claimed solo third at 224 after a 77 in the event which marked Samsung’s return to local pro golf.
Celso Villegas, president and COO of Emcor, said they will exhaust all means to make the pro-am an annual competition.
The 45-year-old Ababa took home P172,000 as the winning pro while Echavez, a 22-year-old member of the ICTSI Canlubang squad, went home with P20,000 worth of merchandise.
Cruz, a teaching pro at Eagle Ridge, settled for the runner-up prize of P160,000.
