Southwoods claims eighth PAL Interclub title  

CEBU CITY – Manila Southwoods held off Eastridge’s final-round rally at the Cebu Country Club to retain the 74^th Philippine Airlines Men’s Interclub golf team championships on Saturday.

Southwoods lost some ground but its 19-point overnight lead proved to be too much to overcome for the new kids on the block.

Eastridge closed with 139 points, six points better than Southwoods.

“A win is a win,” said Southwoods non-playing captain Thirdy Escano who had nothing but praises for Eastridge which competed for the first time in the championship division.

“Give them more opportunities to play in tournaments like this, they can be a force to reckon with in the future.”

Southwoods won the event for the eighth time with 534 points, 13 points ahead of Eastridge. Six of those victories came in the last seven stagings of the event.

Josh Jorge, one of three Southwoods players turning pro, led Southwoods with 36 points while pro-bound Gabriel Manotoc and Kristoffer Arevalo added 34 and 33, respectively. The 30 of either Juan Santino Laurel or Coby Rolida counted for the squad.

Escano said the departure of Jorge, Manotoc and Arevalo will leave a big hole in the team as it begins its preparation for next year’s title defense.

“We would also lose Jeff (Chung), Carl (Corpus) and Aidric (Chan) who will also turn pros,” he added. “It’s back to the drawing board for us.”

In contrast, Eastridge celebrated its fine showing despite having only two weeks to prepare.

“We are just thankful and blessed we got to participate at the 74^th PAL Interclub. Good experience for most of the players. To place runner-up is a bonus and motivation for all of us to do better next time,” said Eastridge COO Gimo Asuncion.

Nine of 10 players of Eastridge played for the first time in a team event.

“We intend to keep the team and prepare them for next year,” Asuncion said.

Alexander Bisera sparkled with 37 points while Eastridge teammates Jhonie Quibol and Joachim Alonso Yu added 35 apiece. Edison Tabalin chipped in 32.

Escano welcomes the emergence of Eastridge as a contender.

“Competition is good. It makes the Interclub interesting,” he said.

Cebu Country Club, whose home course advantage was diluted after players were allowed to lift, clean and replace the ball, settled for third with 498 points, 36 off the pace.

CCC closed with 122, drawing 34 from Mark Dy, 31 from Peter Tyler Po III, 29 from Kyu Ok On and 28 from Eric Deen.

Rounding out the championship division standings were Del Monte 482, Valley 479, Tagaytay Highlands 475, Sta. Elena 442 and Pueblo de Oro 417.

In the Founders division, Zachary Castro sizzled for 40 points to power Orchard to a seven-point win over Riviera Golf Club.

Orchard collected 130 points at CCC to bring its total to 470.

Also scoring for the Dasmarinas-based squad were Tristan Jefferson Padilla 33, Hongzheng Lu 32 and Beejay Chua 25.

Riviera drew 125 points from Eric Gozo (35), Michael Mendoza (34), Richard Salcedo (28) and King Stehmeier (28).

Forest Hills took third with 456, a point ahead of Negros Occidental.

The annual event, held with the theme “Back to Ignite,” was supported by platinum sponsors ABS-CBN Global, Asian Journal, Airbus, and NUSTAR Resort and Casino.

Gold sponsors include Radio Mindanao Network, Mastercard, MemoRieS FM 89.9 Cebu, University of Mindanao Broadcasting Network, PLDT/Smart, and Konsulta MD.

Joining the event as silver sponsors were Philippine National Bank, Biocostech, and VISA.

Minor sponsors were Bollore Logistics, Manila Standard, Tanduay Brands International, and Asia Brewery while donors are the Department of Tourism, Ogawa, Newport World Resorts, Rolls Royce, and Boeing.