Sta. Elena turns back Alabang in WGAP leg

MANILA, Philippines - Sta. Elena humbled Alabang as it assembled a 132 and nipped the host in the countback to capture the Class A crown in the WGAP (Women’s Golf Association of the Phils.) circuit’s second leg at the Alabang Golf Club recently.

Hisayo Shimuzu, 15-handicapper, shot 37 points under the Modified Stableford system while Gaille Marquet, Rio Co and Therese Dabao backed her up with 33, 32 and 30 points, respectively, as Sta. Elena reigned after a fifth place finish in the circuit’s kickoff leg at Villamor.

Alabang, which dominated this leg last year to anchor its overall title romp, also had a 132 but lost in the countback and settled for runner-up finish this time. Vernie Oledan turned in 39 points to bag the individual honors while Joan Morales, Edna Nguyen and Eun Sil Jang had 33, 31 and 29 points, respectively, in the 10-to-play, four-to-count format event organized by WGAP.

Tagaytay Highlands, behind Farah Imperial’s 34, Karen Buenaventura’s 32 and Virginia Bote and Sandy Romualdez’s identical 30 points, finished third with a 126 followed by first leg champion Villamor (124), Aguinaldo (118), Forest Hills (117) and Canlubang (115).

Alabang, however, stamped its class in Class B, pooling a 145 to post a six-point win over Tagaytay Highlands, which had a 139, followed by Villamor (136), Canlubang (125) and Forest Hills (111).

Carol Nielsen led the host’s romp with 40 points while Vivian Chua, Videlyn Torralba and Lolita Arguelles tossed in 36, 35 and 34 points, respectively. Tagaytay drew 36 points from Margaret Tan, 35 from Mely Leyesa and 34 each from Rosario Dimson and Marissa Vergara.

Jing Lozada, meanwhile, bagged the Class B individual title with 43 points as she paced Villamor’s charge while Cora Aguinaldo, Eimie Hedeager and Amelou Juinio chipped in 36, 29 and 28 points, respectively.