THE triumph of Cebuano Lloyd Jefferson Go in the Big East championship has made the golfers of Cebu Country Club (CCC) proud.
Go, who started as a junior golfer in CCC, topped the Big East by three strokes last Wednesday, making him the third person to win the Big East individual title from Seton Hall history.
“This is part of his extra ordinary development. This is not his final achievement, it is only the start of the bigger things to come,” said one of the CCC veterans Jovi Neri, who was the CCC jungolf chairman during Go’s jungolf stint.
Go, who is currently studying in the Seton Hall University, is the country’s top-ranked amateur golfer and is ranked 183 in the world. The county’s number two amateur is Rupert Zaragosa, who is rank 465 in the world ranking.
Go’s victory in the Big East championship earned him a ticket to the NCAA Regionals set on May 16 to 18.
CCC’s Bayani Garcia said they are proud but they are not surprised with the performance of Go.
“He is one of the top amateurs in the country. We are very proud of him not just in this tournament but also for the achievements he has done on his college career. It is really something special,” Garcia said.
Marko Sarmiento, the current jungolf chairman of CCC, said that Go is for sure the most successful amateur who came out of the CCC jungolf program.
“It’s a big achievement because we never had a Cebuano, if memory serves me well, who won a Division 1 tournament. It’s only LJ Go who did it. He will play in the regionals and if he performs well, he can go to nationals,” said Sarmiento.
“If he does go to nationals, he will get the chance to play with the best that is going to be pros in the future,” added Sarmiento. “I am very proud of him because he really is a product of the CCC.”
According to www.shupirates.com, the Cebuano Go joins Pirate Hall of Famers Eugene Smith (2000) and Mike Costigan (1996) as winners of the conference's highest individual crown for Seton Hall University.
Go shot two under-par 70 on round one, had a seven under-par 65 on second round and carded 75 on third round for a total of 210, beating Sam Madsen of Georgetown who had 213 and Jose Montano of Xavier who shot 214.