Filipina golfers falter in Inova Mission Inn Resort and Club Championship tilt

MANILA, Philippines – Abby Arevalo hobbled in a frontside stint in tough conditions and posted a one-over par card with two holes to play as darkness halted play in the first round of the Inova Mission Inn Resort and Club Championship paced by clubhouse leader Jiwon Jeon of Korea in Florida Friday (Saturday, Manila time).

Arevalo, coming off a strong tied for 11th place finish in the IOA Golf Classic in Longwood, also in Florida, last week, broke a run of backside pars with back-to-back birdies from No. 16 of the par-73 El Campeon course in Howey-in-the-Hills. But after settling for par on the par-5 first hole, the Filipina shotmaker lost her rhythm and struggled, bogeying three of the next four holes before play was stopped.

ICTSI teammate Pauline del Rosario had earlier posted a birdie-less 76 marred by bogeys on Nos. 3, 5 and 13 while Fil-Am Clariss Guce also failed to gain any stroke while yielding shots on Nos. 1, 8, 9 and 16 for a 77 in a wind-raked day.

Chanelle Avaricio also didn’t fare any better, winding up with a 79 marred by a double bogey on No. 5 and four bogeys without a birdie to show.

Jeon, meanwhile, flourished on her 26th birthday, coming away with a 66 to seize a provisional three-stroke lead over Israeli’s Laetita Beck and Nataliya Guseva, who matched 69s, with six others, including French Ana Belac, shooting 70s for a share of fourth.