Canlubang stays on top

CEBU CITY — They finally unraveled the mystery of the rugged hilltop course in Danao City as the field came up with tremendous scoring but it was defending champion Canlubang which truly tamed Club Filipino with another impressive round for a 16-point margin in the 54th PAL Interclub golf team championship.

The Sweeties submitted 135 output for 400 in three days and need only to protect that lead when action shifts to Cebu Country Club today with their final team hoping to neutralize the big guns of CAP-Southwoods to claim their 10th Interclub crown.

Southwoods tried to whittle down Canlubang’s margin with a solid lineup spearheaded by Angelo Que who fired a subpar round 37 points but the Carmona team just couldn’t overcome the depth and firepower of the reigning titlist. It could only assemble 134 for 384 card.

Veteran Abe Rosal and Boyet Zaragosa, a sturdy youth from Davao, fired identical 35 cards while Ronnie Torrecampo backed them up with a 33 and Dave Hernandez a 32 giving Canlubang some cushion against the last day make-or-break charge of its rivals.

So balanced was Canlubang’s scoring that Jun Bernis’ 31 didn’t count for the team which had put so much accent on its campaign on the five-year old venue, aware that it held the key to a successful title-retention bid.

"We’re almost there but we’ll not put our guard down. We will still put in more effort because the job is not yet done, it’s no walk in the park," said Canlubang team captain Luigi Yulo.

He added he had enough power to meet Southwoods challenge and would simply match it up to the very last man to keep the title it won in a down-to-the-wire battle against Luisita last year in Pueblo de Oro.

Former jungolf champ Juami Rocha supported Que with 34 points and Chu Chu Martinez came up with 32 while one of the 31s of Jun Jun Plana and Montito Garcia counted for Southwoods.

"Medyo mahirap but frankly with a 16-point deficit the boys must play fantastic round like outscoring them by 17 points. Pero walang ayawan hanggang hindi tapos ang laban," said Southwoods coach Bong Lopes.

Recovering from the trauma of their first round ordeal over the hazard-laden Club Filipino, the men of the centerpiece Championship division, eventually mastered the tough layout and came up with superb cards.

There was the 37 of national caddie champion Jay Bayron as he led Luisita’s scorers in the day with Jinky Tuason coming up with a 34 and Marvin Dumandan a 31 while Iggy Clavecilla counted with a 28. Louie Dacudao didn’t count with a 26.

Luisita remained at third with 378 following a 130, Wack Wack fourth at 344 on 119 built around Gerard Cantada’s 33, Kit Lopez’s 32 and Marlon Dizon’s 30 while Del Monte came in fifth at 341 on a 117 with Ben Miñoza scoring a 32 and Jeffrey Bermudez and Boboy Jaraula 30 points each.

A three-team shootout looms in the Founders Class with Cebu holding a four-point edge over Negros (326-322) and 11 over Riviera (315).

A royal rumble is also in the works in the Sportswriters Division as Apo (284) posted a five-point lead over Club Filipino, Camp Evangelista and Iligan which all finished three days in 279. Team LA is a longshot at 276.

San Juanico is also on an uneasy position at the helm in the Friendship Division with a 246, only eight points ahead of Iloilo. South Cotabato had 231 for third place, one point ahead of UP Tee Jots (230) while British Columbia 229.