Paolo Barro endured the tough backside test that bedeviled the bids of a slew of rivals as he stormed into the lead by five despite a 74 while Kayla Nocum used a sizzling frontside assault to fire a 69 and move past Junia Gabasa halfway through the Philippine Junior Amateur Open Golf Championships at the Sherwood Hills Golf Club in Trece Martires, Cavite yesterday.
Barro recovered from a three-bogey, one-birdie stint at the front with two birdies against the same number of bogeys in the last nine holes, his closing 36 proving to be the best in windy conditions as he moved from second to the top at 147 heading to the final 36 holes of the Albatross division (15-18) of the third leg of this year’s PLDT Group National Amateur Tour.
Sean Ramos fought back from a mediocre opening 77 with a frontside 35 but hobbled with four bogeys in a birdie-less backside windup of 40, settling for second at 152 after a 75 while Aidric Chan and Carl Corpus moved to joint third with 153s after a 75 (36-39) and 77 (40-37), respectively.
Paolo Wong, who showed up the field with a gutsy 72 Tuesday, failed to recover from a 39 start as he limped with a 42 for an 81, tumbling to Chan and Corpus’ group, now six strokes off the new leader in the 72-hole championship organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines.
Josh Jorge also shot a 75 but lay nine strokes behind at 156 while the rest continued to sputter in tough conditions at one of the country’s toughest courses.
But Nocum tamed the frontside of the par-72 layout with three birdies then held sway with a birdie-bogey backside for a 69, grabbing a one-stroke lead at 146 in the girls’ side of the centerpiece division of the event sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation, PLDT Group, Cignal and Metro Pacific.
Erstwhile leader Junia Gabasa reeled with bogeys in the last two holes and wound up with a 73, slipping to second at 147 with Korean Kang da Yun and Maria Tee at 151 and 152 after a 74 and 77, respectively.
Meanwhile, Wiggam Tapdasan skied to an 85 but still stood way ahead in the Ace division (19-and-above) at 166 with Gerrard Park pooling a 181 after an 86.
Korean Kim Tae Soo shot a 79 and padded his lead to two at 157 in the Eagle category (12-14) with Miguel Ilas taking the challenger’s role at 159 after a 77 in a tie with Jet Hernandez, who turned in an 80.
Rianne Malixi likewise firmed up her lead in the girls’ category with a 78 and a 152, three strokes ahead of Eagle Ace Superal, who carded a 77 for a 155, while Arnie Taguines made a 79 for a 157 and Sam Dizon assembled a 159 after a 78.
Meanwhile, listup for the MVPSF Visayas Regional Golf Championship is ongoing with another huge field expected to clash for top honors in the fourth staging of the event on April 8-12 at Cebu Country Club.
Fees are pegged at P3,000 (men’s and ladies division) for local players and P4,000 for foreign entries and P2,500 (local) and P3,500 (foreign) for those competing in the Mid-Amateur Open category. Fee for club members is P1,500, according to NGAP.