CCC Jungolf Alumni matches: Nineties take commanding lead

Defending champion Nineties team, inspired by an improbable upset scored in their very first match, took a commanding 9.5 to 4.5 lead after the first day of play in the 3rd Jose "Cheling" Garcia Cup Jungolf Alumni Matches.

The monumental upset was orchestrated by the tandem of Raymond Garcia and Maite Moraza-Unchuan against the heavily-favored duo of men's club champions Carl Almario and Richard Unchuan. Garcia and Moraza-Unchuan won two points for their team, drubbing their Eighties counterparts in both the scramble play, 2 up, and the foursomes matches, 2 and 1.

The match, the first of the day, set the tone for the rest of the matches. The first nine scramble matches saw the Nineties win 6 1/2 out of a possible 7 points. Aside from the upset scored by Garcia and Moraza-Unchuan, five other tandems from the Nineties won.

Jovi Neri and Paolo Borromeo beat Enrico Solon and Gassy Lizares by two; Jojo Tiongko and Ace Serafin won over Gabriel Yap, Jr. and Justin Neri; Marko Sarmiento and Jon Syjuco downed Eric Deen and Mars Ugarte; and, Andre Borromeo and Ritchie Go nipped Macky Michael and Iker Aboitiz by a stroke.

Arlo Sarmiento-Marc Gonzalez starred for the Nineties, drowning their archrivals Jonji Chiongbian-Jovie Unchuan, with a spectacular birdie display of six in nine holes. The only half in the scramble play came from the Nineties pair of Mark Dy and Jacob Pimintel who had to birdie the final hole to force the half against Dr. Tony San Juan and Frederic Chiongbian.

In the foursomes matches saw the same tandems play against each other in the back nine. The Eighties made a comeback, finally winning their first match when Eric Deen and Mars Ugarte turned the tables on Marko Sarmiento and Jon Syjuco with a 3 and win.

They went on to win 4 of a possible 7 points. Other winners for the Eighties team were the tandems of Yap, Jr. and Justin Neri (2 and 1), and, San Juan and Chiongbian (2 and 1).

Those scoring points for the Nineties team in the foursomes were the team-ups of Moraza-Unchuan and Garcia (2 and 1), and, Paolo Borromeo and Jovi Neri (2 and 1).

The foursomes that halved were Sarmiento-Gonzalez versus Chiongbian-Uchuan, and Borromeo-Go against Michael-Aboitiz.

The Nineties team are just 4.5 points away from retaining the cup. The Eighties need 14.5 points to win the cup, so they will have to win 10 of the available 15 points up for grabs in the Singles matches today.

The match-ups for the singles matches in order of Eighties versus Nineties are: Jonji Chiongbian vs. Arlo Sarmiento; Enrico Solon vs. Andre Borromeo; Macky Michael vs. Maite Moraza-Unchuan; Frederic Chiongbian vs Ace Serafin; Justin Neri vs. Quinito Moras; Gabriel Yap, Jr. vs. Mark Dy; Eric Deen vs. Jojo Tiongko; Tony San Juan vs Jovi Neri; Jovie Unchuan vs. Raymond Garcia; Iker Aboitiz vs. Marc Gonzalez; Gassy Lizares vs. Paolo Borromeo; Nino Bascon vs. Ritchie Go; Richard Unchuan vs. Jacob Pimintel; Carl Almario vs. Marko Sarmiento; and Mars Ugarte vs. Jon Syjuco.