Del Monte seizes 21-pt edge in the rain

MANILA, Philippines - Del Monte, with Kristine Leonen dishing out a solid game, pooled a 137 in tough, wet condition to erect a 21-point lead over defending champion Manila Southwoods Masters at the start of the seventh PAL Ladies Interclub at the Iloilo Golf and Country Club in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo yesterday.

Leonen hit birdies on Nos. 4 and 14 to turn in a 49-point output under the Molave scoring system while Apple Fudolin and Pamela Soriano backed her up with 45 and 43 points, respectively, in the Championship division. Eleven-year-old’s Sofia Chabon’s 41 didn’t count in the four-to-play, three-to-count format event.

Southwoods, which dominated last year’s revival of the event, struggled with a 116 with Abegail Arevalo, 12, shooting a 44, Beachie Abiera adding a 41 and Christine Naidoo finishing with a 31 as Sandy Velhagen failed to count with a 25.

“My team gave it all despite the challenges. It’s a sweet victory for us today. But we have a long way to go and we will just take it on a day-to-day basis,” said Del Monte team captain Maribel San Miguel.

“Sta. Barbara is really a long, difficult course. The par-4s are longer than the types you can see in other courses. Yesterday’s heavy rains rendered the course soggy, making it more difficult to play,” said Abiera.

Lois Kaye Go of Cebu Country Club actually posted the day’s best score of 53 while Harmie Constantino of Villamor Golf Club shot 51 points, both under the Founders division.

Earlier, Del Monte made changes in its roster to come up with a team average of 5.36, enabling it to in field eight players, instead of six.

In Founders, with Go firing a 53, Cebu CC assembled a 112 to lead Negros by five with Villamor in third at 105 followed by Alabang with 104, Sta. Elena (101), Camp John Hay (91), Singapore Raffles (83) and Pueblo (71).

The event, which drew 26 teams, has adopted the theme Fairways & Magic and is sponsored by Airbus, Asia Brewery, Avis Car Rental, Department of Tourism, Mareco Broadcasting Network (Crossover), Media Five, Stargate Media and Solar Entertainment.

The PALakbayan sponsors are B/E Aerospace, Boeing International Corp., RMN Networks and Sarabia Manor Hotel & Conventions Center. Donors include Amazing Planet, Century Properties, Diamond Hotel Phils., EDSA Shangri-la, Plantation Bay Resort & Spa, Print Town/Lexmedia and Tanduay Distillers and Hyatt Hotel & Casino.