Dumandan up by two in California am

Marvin Dumandan rode on a three-birdie string from No. 12 and went on to fire a three-under par 69 and lead American Freddy Wolfe by two strokes at the start of the North Orange County Amateur at the Black Gold Golf Club in Yorba Linda, California Saturday.

Dumandan, who fell short of his bid in last week’s USGA Amateur Golf Championships Sectional Qualifiers where he finished in joint seventh in West Covina, actually opened up with a bogey on the par-3 No. 10, the frontside of his game. But the national team mainstay sprang back with birdies on Nos. 12, 13 and 14 and made the turn at 34. He added two more birdies at the front — Nos. 2 and 4 — to negate another bogey mishap on No. 5 and finish with a 34-35 card.

That was two strokes ahead of Wolfe, who shot a 71, while another Filipino bet, Gene Bondoc, led two others with 72s in this 36-hole tournament under the amateurgolf.com calendar of events, California’s premier amateur golf circuit. Other even par scorers were Chris Lavery and David Staszko.

Former Singapore Amateur champion Michael Bibat groped for form with a 75 so did Jay Bayron, who struggled with his short irons and balky, missing a lot of birdie opportunities and limping with a 78.

The long-hitting Dumandan also had his share of muffed birdie putts in the day but his near-impeccable short game kept him going, setting up birdie chances within club length.

"The course is relatively short but it’s tight so if they keep their drives in play, they would be okay," said Chris Guerrero, the man at the helm of the four-man RP squad whose overseas stint is sponsored by ICTSI as part of the team’s buildup for the Asian Games in Doha in December.