Cangolf rides on 2 eagles to lead by 3

Davao City – The first man out gave Canlubang the kind of momentum it would need in quest of a four-peat–a rare double eagle–as the defending champion moved up by three points in the first round of the Championship division of the 56th PAL Interclub.

That double eagle, fired by team mainstay Abe Rosal on the par-5 12th hole, enabled the Sweeties to seize initiative early and come up with a three-point edge over archrival Manila Southwoods with a 141 as the battle for top Interclub honors began at the plush wind-swept Palos Verdes.

The 40-year old Rosal ended up with 37 points and, with JR Tanpinco coming in with a 38, Juvic Pagunsan and Jun Bernis a couple of 33s, Canlubang rode out an equally impressive start by the Carmona-based team which had 138. Ronny Torrecampo didn’t count with a 28.

Hounded by the stigma of a poor first round outing from which it never recovered last year, Southwoods threw in a talent-laden first team with Japanese teener Toro Nakajima firing a 38, Hanson So Jr. 34 and Mark Lopez and national amateur champion Jerome Delariarte 33 each. Gene Bondoc didn’t count with 29.

"It’s a good start and we expected it to be close on the first day because the teams can really score here in Palos Verdes," said Canlubang skipper Luigi Yulo.

" We didn’t expect to pull away even if we fielded a strong team because the other teams came up with a strong lineup. It will be a different story when we move to Apo," he added.

Del Monte came up a surprise third placer with 129, outplaying perennial contender Luisita. Biboy Jaraula fired a team high 35 points followed by Jet Plete with 34. Tristan and Tommy Tabanas submitted 31 and 29, respectively, for the Bukidnon team and Lino Retuerto didn’t count with 26.

Rosal, the recent DHL Open champion, carded the first double eagle in the Interclub in recent memory, holing out with a 218-yard seven-wood second shot in the downhill par-5 496-yard 12th hole.

" I was on the left side of the fairway and the wind was blowing left-to-right and the shot went really high, landed short of the green, hopped onto it and went straight into the cup," said Rosal ,who started out for Canlubang.

Although he finished his frontnine, the backside of the rugged Palos Verdes overlooking the quaint town of Mandug, in four-under par, Rosal would later rue a scrambling stint with that double-eagle shot "the highlight of my round."

He birdied the 18th but struggled coming home, going scoreless on the second hole by missing the green on his teeshot and pitching back twice and being hit with back-to-back bogeys from the fifth.

" I was struggling all day," he said.

The 20-year old Tanpinco, a former jungolf champ and winner of a recent international youth event in Wack Wack, also groped for form, by his admission, en route to a team high 38 points–two under par.

" I wasn’t hitting the ball well, I was scrambling talaga and I’m really very happy with my score today," said Tanpinco, a sophomore member of the multi-titled Sweeties.

Tanpinco, a Bacolod native, matched flightmate Nakajima shot for shot in a virtual one-on-one between two talented youth players. Tanpinco birdied three holes, including back to back ones from the 12th, against a bogey on the 16th.

Luisita leaned on the 32 of Anthony Fernando, the 31 of Iggy Clavecilla, 29 of Jojo Fernando and the 27 of Boy Blue Ocampo. Reggie Pena was out of the team scoring with 26.

In the Sportswriters Division, Team LA showed the way with 96 points, followed by Apo with 91 and Zamboanga with 88.

In the Founders Division, Cebu Country Club launched its own three-peat bid when Eric Deen, 38, three-time Cebu club champion, fired an even par 36 points at the Palos Verdes to lead the team to a 12-point edge over Iligan. Deen was backed up by Marko Lopez (35), Keenan Ugarte (29), Andre Borromeo ( 28) while George Hung didn’t count with a 15.

Deen fired four birdies against two bogeys and a scoreless hole for his 36.

Calvin Sevesco carded 37 points on one-under par score and paced the pointmakers for Iligan which came up with 116. Jan Rey Rapines scored 29, Eduardo Boza 27 and Jose Buenaventura 23.

Lanang came in third with 114.

This year’s event has for major sponsors 105.1 Crossover, ABS-CBN Global, Air Philippines, CNN International, Fortune Tobacco, GE Aircraft Engines, Joey 92.3, MTV Philippines, PLDT, Premier Wines and Spirits, Radio Mindanao Network, Royal Caribbean International, The Marco Polo Hotel and UMBN- Mindanao Times.

The corporate backers are 96.3 Wrock, Apo View Hotel, and Boeing International while the minor supporters are Accel Sports Gear, Asia Brewery, Century Park Hotel, Tanduay Rum, TaylorMade, Nestle, and Discovery Channel.