Bagtas routs Nat’l Senior Amateur field

THE VETERAN Eddie Bagtas was a cut above the rest yesterday, shooting a level par 72 to win the NGAP’s National Senior Amateur championship by a whopping eight shots over Abe Avena at the composite Malipunyo and Lobo nines of Mount Malarayat in Lipa City.

Holding a four-stroke lead overnight, Bagtas never let his pursuers in it, shooting three of his four birdies in his first nine holes for a four-over 220 and add another feather on his cap six months after reverting back as an amateur.

Avena, who also won here in his first year of senior eligibility last year, closed out with a 76, even as Dave Hernandez, the Calatagan golf manager who is also a former champion, was third another two shots back after a similar 76.

The 55-year-old Bagtas played his final nine holes pressure free as Avena continued to lose ground. His victory in the event presented by the MVP Sports Foundation as part of the PLDT Group Amateur Tour was his first individually.

Bagtas had returned to the ranks earlier in the year and announced his coming by helping Luisita nip Canlubang in the Philippine Airlines Interclub championship in Bacolod last February. He also made the quarterfinals of the National Match Play championship.

Jeck Mendoza shared the winner’s stage with Bagtas after nipping businessman Gary Sales in sudden death for the Mid-Am title of the event also backed by Pancake House, Golf Depot and Pacsports.

Mendoza, who trailed Sales after each of the first two rounds, closed out with a 78 and Sales with an 80 to tie at 235, before Sales scored a routine par in the first hole of sudden death for his first national title.  Musong R. Castillo