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Strong frontside finish puts Go in the mix

MANILA, Philippines – Because of the large number of participants, the country’s young golfers from different clubs were divided to two gr oups as they take the stage in this year’s edition of the Junior Golf Foundation of the Philippines (JGFP) Inter-Club competition set this month.

The groups were split to Developmental Division, which attracted 80 players currently playing at the Sherwood Hills Golf and Country Club in Trece Martires, Cavite (May 9 to 11); while the Championship Division is set May 22-24 at the Mimosa Plus Golf Course in Pampanga.

“We have so many players that’s why we, at the JGFP, have opted to do two competitions. First is the Developmental, and it will be followed by the Championship, and we are thankful to both Sherwood and Mimosa,” said JGFP president Oliver Gan, a former junior golfer.

“The JGFP is very thankful to both Sherwood general manager Jerome Baldoz and Mimosa golf director Rory for their support in the development of our youn g golfers,” added Gan, a former program officer for the national capital region of the Philippine Sports Institute (PSI), which is under the PSC.

Both the Developmental category and the Championship event, which will gather some 140 participants, will have golfers from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao regions — making it the biggest Inter-Club meet for young golfers. The event is backed by Malayan Insurance for the Developmental division and Superkit Super Junior Cubs for the Championship division.

A total of 23 teams, including entries from Visayas and Mindanao, are playing at Sherwood.

The three-day team event is divided into two divisions — the 13-18 and 12-and-under using the modified Stableford scoring system.

Looming as the team to beat in the 13-18 bracket is the Immaculate Conception Academy (ICA) Team 1 composed of Chloe Ang, Chloe Lim, Lavigne Yu and Alaine Yu; while the other teams in the 13-18 field are Apo Gol f, Wack Wack, ICA Team 2, Cebu Country Club Team 2, Baguio Country Club Team 1, Manila, and Alabang.

In the 12-and-under category, two Navy teams are expected to fight it out with Alabang Team 1 for the crown. Navy Team 1 is composed of Winter Serapio, Phil Galvez, Monte Andaman and Zachary Baun; while Navy Team 2 is made up of Venus delos Sant os, Cole Galvez, Franco Estrella and Andrei Victoria.

Alabang Team 1 is led by Makayla Verano with support coming from Shantelle Laurel, Rosie Reyes and Ariana Villarosa. The other squads entered are ICA Team 1, ICA Team 2, Alabang Team 2, AJS, Cebu Team 1, Cebu Country Club Team 3, CCC Team 5, BCC Team 2, Xavier Team 1 and Xavier Team 2.

Each player i s allowed to field four players but only the top three scores count.

As for the Championship category, expected to see action are clubs from Del Monte, Cebu Country Club, Apo, Riviera, Valley, Xavier, Pueblo, ICA, Navy, Alabang and the team of Lue de Guzman.

Some of the players expected to see action in the Inter-Club are some of the top young guns of local golf, including Lucas de Guzman, Armand Copok, Ralph Batican, Ally Gaccion, Joy Tabanas, Apple Gotiong, Grace Quintanilla, Jacob Cajita, Tashi Balanguan, LL Go, Brie Macasaet, Halo Pangilinan, Zoji Edoc, Tof-Tof Nadales, Geoffrey Tan, Aerin Chan, Mico Ungco, Seth Koa, Saki Co, Anna Kei Fernandez, Andrea Dee, Inigo Composano, Skippy See, Erika Tan, Chloe Ang, Chloe Lim, Kiara Uy, and the Gaisano-Gan sisters Nicole and Stephanie.

MANILA, Philippines – Lloyd Go put up an impressive frontside performance, racking up four birdies worth 8 points as he tallied a 9-point total to grab a share of 19th in the first round of the For the Players By the Players 2024 at The Club Golf Villave in Gunma Prefecture in Japan Thursday.

The four-day tournament marks a unique format for the Japan Golf Tour, reintroducing point-based scoring reminiscent of the 1990-98 Acom International. Under the system, a par holds no points, a birdie earns two points, and an eagle rewards five points. Notably, an albatross commands a remarkable eight points, while a bogey incurs a deduction of one point, and a double bogey or worse results in a deduction of three points.

Despite encountering a bit of a struggle with a one-birdie, one-bogey card at the backnine, Go, who tied for second in the recent i Golf Shaper Challenge on the Abema Tour, soared at the turn, particularly in the last eight holes. He showcased remarkable precision, carding birdies on Nos. 2, 5, 7 and 9 to end up with nine points, equivalent to four-under 68 in traditional stroke play.

However, Go found himself trailing Naoyuki Kataoka and Yusaku Hosono by six points after the Japanese duo matched 65s in stroke play, each earning 15 points, just a point ahead of Hiroya Kubota, Kunihiro Uei, M. Hendry and Song Yong Han of Korea.

Justin delos Santos, meanwhile, had a chance to surpass or match Go’s output, but a last-hole bogey halted his charge, disrupting what could have been a promising start on the frontnine, sparked by three straight birdies from No. 1. He also birdied No. 8 to make up for his mishaps on Nos. 6 and 9.

Though he double bogeyed No. 13, he bounced back with three birdies in the next five holes but bogeyed the last, slipping to tied 27th instead with eight points.

Juvic Pagunsan, however, hit just one birdie for a measly two-point total as he fell to joint 83rd in danger of missing the cut in the Y50-million championship.

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