Southwoods logs historic PAL triumph

Photo from Inquirer Golf

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga—The five aces who were supposed to give Manila Southwoods a strong start came up with a whirlwind finish instead Saturday and completed the Carmona-based squad’s date with Philippine Airlines Interclub golf history.

Justin Quiban smoked the Mountain View layout of the Mimosa Golf and Country Club here with 10 birdies before settling for a tournament-best five-under-par 67 and a 41, boosting Southwoods to a closing 141 and a 10-point win over Canlubang for the club’s first-ever successful title-retention bid in the Men’s Championship division.

Japanese Yuto Katsuragawa backed Quiban up with 37, the seasoned Jun Jun Plana chipped in with 34 and Ivan Monsalve fired 29 for Southwoods’ 552 tally in the five-to-play, four-to-count event. PAL’s Stableford scoring system gives four points for an eagle, three for birdie, two for a par and one for bogey.

It was Southwoods’ fourth title, but it was the first time the club repeated as champion after two failed bids, putting it in the company of elite champions in the event known unofficially as the country’s team golf championship.

Canlubang simply couldn’t keep up with Southwoods’ sustained brilliance, with Jobim Carlos yielding to Quiban and signing for a 37, and Carl Corpus shooting 33, Aidric Chan 32 and Gab Manotoc 30 for the Sugar Barons’ 132 and 542 overall.

Southwoods discarded the 27 of Chepe Dulay, while Canlubang threw away the 28 of veteran Abe Rosal.

“There was no doubt we had the best team in the final round,” Southwoods non-playing skipper Thirdy Escano.

Southwoods was not as devastating in Wednesday’s first round with the very same team as the pro-bound Carlos carried the Sugar Barons to a one-point lead.

Luisita broke in its young team and gave the field a glimpse of its potential, finishing third after a final day 137 led by the 39 points of Brian Kim. Park Chan-jung and reedy Lanz Uy scored 34s and Gido Mandanas accounted for 30 for the Luisitans, who totaled 531.

The Interclub was sponsored by People Asia, Travelife, Mareco Broadcasting Network (Crossover), Manila Broadcasting Corporation, Airbus, Business Mirror and Philippine National Bank.

Other supporters are Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inquirer.net, Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, Tanduay Distillers, Asia Brewery, Splash Corp., RFM Corp., Goldilocks, Eastgate Publishing Corp., Robinsons Land and Rolls-Royce.