BACOLOD CITY - Defending champion Cebu Country Club (CCC) dropped to fourth place, nine points off the lead, in the Founders Division in Day 2 of the PAL Interclub Men’s regular tournament.
Still playing with the Championship division due to a miscalculation during the screening, CCC fired 116 at the Bacolod Golf and Country Club yesterday for a 233.
Manila Southwoods jumped to the lead from sixth after an impressive 134 at the Negros Golf and Country Club, while Del Monte is second with a 237 after yesterday’s 120.
Host Negros took advantage of its familiarity with its own layout to vault from fifth to third after a 127 yesterday for a two-day haul of 236. Early leader Sta. Elena slipped to fifth with 228.
Mactan Island Golf and Country Club, last year’s champion in the Sportswriters Division, also had a respectable 113 to stay at sixth place with 216, 10 points clear of Riviera.
Ronnie Sarigumba posted the best score for Mactan in his first day of action with a 33, while Alfredo Cabajar scored a 30. Andrew Cañete also fired 26 and Jose Mari Dizon scored a 24. Renato Aquino’s 22 was not counted.
Alta Vista Golf and Country Club is last with 182 and trails Wack-Wack (202), Orchard (197), Villamor (196) and Forest Hills (194).
The injured Carl Almario, who is nursing a bum back, led CCC with a 32, while Gio Gandiongco fired a 29. Mark Dy, who once set a record 40 points in 2007, had 28, while Marko Sarmiento and Montito Garcia each had a 27.
Only the top four scores are counted.
Despite the deficit, CCC is looking forward to today’s round at Negros Golf and Country Club as it finally gets to join the Founders Division and put the pressure on the leaders.
“It will be really better to finally play with the Founders Division,” said CCC’s Jovi Neri. “So we can pressure them.”
Trailing by double digits is not new for CCC as it also erased an 11-point lead in the second day during their 2007 triumph in Cagayan de Oro. A year before that, they erased a 14-point lead.
“We’ve experienced it all. We’ve had wins when we were leading, we also won when we were trailing,” said Neri. “Eleven points may be big for one player, but if you have four players scoring, makaya ra na (We can do it).”
That’s what the current leader, Manila Southwoods did. Fidel Concepcion and Miggy Yee had 35 and 34 as they erased Day 1 leader Sta. Elena’s 11-point lead to vault to No. 1.
CCC will be fielding LJ Go, Gandiongco, Neri, Bayani Garcia and Jojo Tiongko today, though Neri said the final lineup could still be changed pending their team meeting late last night.
While CCC will be jumping from the course at Binitin to the Marapara layout, the rest of the Founders Division will be playing in the Marapara course for the second straight day.
“It goes both ways since most of the guys who are assigned in one course are the same. You could say that the rest of the team will have yesterday’s game fresh in their minds, but our team will also have one day’s rest,” said Neri, who played at Marapara on Day One.
Because it was erroneously included in the championship division during the initial screening, only CCC will be jumping course in the third day, while all the rest will play in the course they played in yesterday.
“We will just have to play the golf course as best as we can,” said Neri.
In the Championship division, The Country Club erased a three-point deficit after posting a 134 yesterday for a 268, while Canlubang had a 129 for a 266.