MANILA, Philippines—Defending champion Wack Wack moved a step closer to its third championship after turning back Eastridge recently to forge a title duel with Canlubang for the 2012 Men’s Federation Golf League.
Down 1.5-3.5 after the away match at Eastridge, Wack Wack needed a sterling performance from its top guns to secure a 4.5-0.5 victory for a 6-4 semifinal clincher in a series that certainly looked more like the title duel.
Canlubang posted a 4-1 victory at home against Valley on the way to a 5.5-4.5 decision in the other semifinal and a stint in the finals for the first time.
Canlubang hosts Wack Wack today, then Wack Wack takes its turn tomorrow in the season’s final home-and-away duel. Both Canlubang and Wack Wack made it straight to the semifinals as the top two qualifiers with the best records in the eliminations.
Valley tried very hard to forge a playoff but the Canlubang pairs of Bing Bunye and Tony Olives and Joey Huerva-Jonas Magcalayo proved unshakeable.
Valley was up 3-0 and needed just a win but Huerva and Magcalayo pulled off a 1-up squeaker in the greensomes before Olives and Bunye forged a tie in the best-ball format.
Jungolfer Gab Manotoc won both his matches for Wack Wack and so did John Gobing. Tommy Manotoc, meanwhile, played at Wack Wack and earned a draw with Liberato Tan in greensomes.
The Manotocs will be playing against their former team in the finals, being Canlubang regulars for a long time.