Sta. Elena, Highlands arrange title showdown

MANILA, Philippines - Sta. Elena and Tagaytay Highlands hacked out stirring come-from-behind wins over their semifinal opponents recently to arrange a showdown for the 2009 Men’s Federation Golf League championship.

The overachieving Sta. Elena squad, which has never gone past the eliminations in its long years of participation in the meet, found its way to the finals after claiming the scalp of Wack Wack, 6-4.

Highlands, a losing semifinalist last year, scored a 5.5-4.5 decision over Eastridge in the other Final Four home-and-away duel to also get a crack at its first-ever title in the league that featured 12 of the country’s most exclusive golf clubs.

Down 1.5-3.5 in its away game at Eastridge, the Highlanders rallied from the big deficit to turn the tables on their visitors with a 4-1 result, which was sealed by Pepe Lim and Dan Salvador’s decisive victory in the aggregate format.

The finals duel is set this weekend with Sta. Elena opting to host their rivals on Saturday and Highlands the home team on Sunday.

It was the tandem of lawyer Manoling Chan and junior golf standout Miguel Tabuena who delivered the all-important point for Sta. Elena, which fell 2-3 at home but bounced back with a 4-1 win at Wack Wack.

Playing against Wack Wack’s most potent pair of Elphege Wong and Tootsie de Jesus, Chan and Tabuena squandered a four-hole lead through 13 holes and allowed their opponents to draw level on the 17th. Chan, however, salvaged a bogey on the 18th by two-putting from 60 feet that sealed Wack Wack’s doom as de Jesus took a double.

Earlier, Yuri Allado-Luigi Tabuena won in best-ball, JP Reyes-Richie Yang took the scramble point and Richie Garcia-Kenneth Yang finished off their aggregate foes on the 12th hole.

Sta. Elena went straight into the semis after topping the eliminations while Highlands ousted defending champion Riviera in the quarterfinals.