Behind Plana, Southwoods keeps Fil championship

With a “seasoned” rookie delivering and a back-up crew that was solid all four days, Manila Southwoods on Thursday retained the centerpiece Fil-championship crown of the 72nd Fil-Am Seniors Invitational after holding back bitter rival Luisita by 11 points at challenging Baguio Country Club in the City of Pines.

Jun Jun Plana, the long-time regular men’s team anchor making his debut on the 55-and-above division, closed out with a seven-over-par 68 worth 29 points to lead the Carmona-based bets to 106 points that matched Luisita’s output as Southwoods picked up where it left off three years ago when the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the event.

It was the first time in four rounds that Plana failed to breach the 30-point mark, but a grizzled support cast got the job done with Judd Roy and Raul Muñoza shooting 29 each and Manfred Guangko, another rookie, accounting for 25 for 463 overall.

Plana still won the individual championship.

Luisita got 29 points from Chino Raymundo and 28 from Rodel Mangulabnan with Benjie Sumulong and Dan Cruz shooting 26 and 23, respectively.