Southwoods on cusp of Fil-Am crown

BAGUIO, Philippines — With veteran Jun Jun Plana firing an impressive round at the tough Baguio Country Club course, Manila Southwoods scored 109 points and extended its lead to 11 points over rival Luisita in the Fil-Championship of the 72nd Fil-Am Men’s Invitational.

Plana carded a two-over at the par-61 layout worth 34 points with Theody Pascual adding a 26, Manfred Guangko a 25 and Raul Miñoza a 24 as Southwoods raised its total to 357 with one round left in the premiere senior division.

“This is not yet a safe lead. No lead is safe in BCC. For sure, it’s going to be man for man. Anything can happen. A guy can suddenly score high at BCC,” said Southwoods skipper Freddie Mendoza.

Luisita, on one hand, pooled in 103 for 346 with Dan Cruz and Benjie Sumulong making 28 apiece, Eddie Bagtas 25 and Marty Ilagan 22.

Meanwhile, Camp John Hay Hotels and Baguio Blue Bloods wrapped up the titles in their respective divisions.

Camp John Hay Hotels produced a wire-to-wire victory with 367 and a 16-point win over Hotel Bahia in Fil-A while Baguio Blue Bloods scored 102 and a closing 344 points for the Am-A crown.