PAL INTERCLUB: Southwoods sets early pace

CEBU CITY – Junjun Plana and Coby Rolida produced sub-par rounds to lift Manila Southwoods to the early lead in the 74th Philippine Airlines Men’s Interclub golf team championships at the Cebu Country Club on Wednesday.

Plana, the only senior in the youth-laden squad, birdied the ninth, his final hole, to secure 38 points while Rolida also closed with a birdie to turn in 37.

Southwoods drew a pair of 33s from Gabriel Manotoc and Josh Jorge to launch its title-retention bid with 141 points.

“We went into the round with a target of 140 points, so I think we did a good job,” said Southwoods non-playing captain Thirdy Escano.

Plana was 3-under when he hit his tee shot out of bounds on the penultimate hole, leading to a pickup.

“I teed the ball a little higher,” rued Plana who nevertheless bounced back on the next hole.

Rolida, a Nomura Cup veteran, fired an eagle and four birdies against three bogeys and a pickup.

He set up the eagle putt from under the trees on the par-5 11th, using a five-iron from 197 yards.

“It helped that we were allowed to lift, clean, and replace the ball,” Rolida said.

Eastridge Golf Club moved into second place with 127 points behind Alexander Bisera’s 38 points.

Loyd Labrador and Joachim Alonso Yu each carded 30 points while Antonio Asistio chipped in 29.

Host CCC took the third spot with 126, drawing 34 from Eric Deen and a pair of 31s from Mark Dy and Vincent Osmena. The 30s of either Jon Joseph Alvarez or Kyu Ok On counted.

Rounding out the standings in the championship division were Tagaytay Highlands 119, Valley 116, Sta. Elena 114, Del Monte 113, Pueblo de Oro 111.

In the Founders division, Alabang took a four-point lead over Negros Occidental after scoring 120 points at CCC. Riviera was running third with 114.

The annual event, held with the theme “Back to Ignite,” is 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 are Philippine National Bank (PNB), Biocostech, and VISA.

Minor sponsors are 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.* (PIC)