Archers cop fourth straight match play plum over Eagles

TAGAYTAY – La Salle overwhelmed Ateneo in their golfing duel, setting the pace from start to finish for a lopsided 28-14 win to clinch their fourth straight victory in the La Salle-Ateneo Match Play at the Tagaytay Highlands here yesterday.

The Archers even won the singles matches they could afford to lose, 10-8, racking up the needed four points in just 10 matches when Miko Yee outplayed Ateneo’s John Gobing, 5 and 4, in a rout that underscored the Taft-based squad’s mastery of its archrival in the three-day event which gathered the best talents of both schools.

But La Salle proved better – again, coming up with superb combinations to outclass Ateneo in the foursome and fourball matches in the first two days where the Archers built an insurmountable 12-point lead to put an anti-climactic ending to what has been billed as a classic duel between the country’s top two institutions with a storied sporting rivalry.

Jude Eustaquio, the reigning Florida State champion Ateneo brought in to provide firepower to the team, blasted Chepe Dulay at the start of the singles, 7 and 6, but Chuckie Hong delivered the first point for La Salle with a 2-up win over Marcel Puyat then Miko Alejandro humbled Iggy Clavecilla, 4 and 3, and Abe Rosal made short work of Jovi Neri, 7 and 5.

The Archers actually needed just 3.5 points to wrap the match but dropped five of the first seven matches before Yee secured the win over Gobing on the 14th hole.

“The key to this victory is focus and our will to win,” said La Salle team captain Freddie Mendoza, whose brilliant combinations in the better-ball and alternate-shot formats threw Ateneo’s strategy off sync.

It was La Salle’s fourth straight victory since losing to Ateneo in the inaugural staging of the event in 2004 at Sherwood and from the looks of things, or unless the Eagles tap a couple more of top-notch players, the Archers are in for a longer reign.

“I think we will be a lot stronger next year,” said Mendoza, hinting at another romp this early. The Archers’ 14-point romp, which doubled Ateneo’s output, was the biggest winning margin posted so far in the series, nearly tripling La Salle’s runaway six-point win last season.

Businessman JP Reyes took over from Alejandro to emerge the team’s best scorer, sweeping all his matches in the foursome and fourball then nipping Gab Atienza, 2 and 1, in the singles to cap his sterling performance in the event organized and hosted by Belle Corporation and Tagaytay Highlands.

Justin Limjap failed to match Reyes’ unbeaten run as he dropped a 2 and 1 decision to Ateneo’s Mark Rivera in the final singles matchup of the Ryder Cup-style event sponsored by Fiji Water, Pacific Online, BusinessMirror, Inquirer, Inquirer Golf, Golf Punk, Solar and Crossover and held in cooperation with La Salle Golf Club Inc. and Ateneo Golf Foundation.

Also winning for La Salle were Bones Floro, Lora Roberto, JR Tanpinco and Marco Olives while two matches ended all square.

Floro defeated Junjun Plana, 2-up; Roberto beat Leanna Farrales, 4 and 3; JR Tanpinco trounced Joel Bernaldez, 4 and 2; and Olives downed Bayani Garcia, 3 and 1.

La Salle’s Jung Soo-park and Ateneo’s Ayon Sanchez wound up at all-square, the same finish recorded by the pair of King Stehmeier of La Salle and Pepot Inigo of Ateneo.

The other players who won for Ateneo were Anthony Fernando, who outlasted Terence Makatangay, 1-up; Yoyong Velez, who beat Richie Garcia, 3 and 2; Marty Ilagan, who edged Louie Garcia, 2 and 1; Mari Hechanova, who downed Ronnie Littaua, 2 and 1; and Lovelyn Guioguio, who nipped reigning national champion Anya Tanpinco, 1-up.