CEBU CITY — The Orchard Golf and Country Club (GCC) turned to its pair of junior golfers to take the fight out of its closest pursuers and capture the Founders division in the 74th Philippine Airlines Men’s Interclub golf team championships on Saturday.
Just two points ahead of Alabang and Riviera with two more teams within six points before the start of the final round, the Orchard drew a tournament-best 40 points from Zachary Castro and 33 from Tristan Jefferson Padilla to shut the door.
Mr. Castro went 4-under at the back where he started before adding two more against two bogeys coming home.
With Hongzheng Lu and Beejay Chua adding 32 and 25, the Orchard amassed 130 points at the Cebu Country Club to cruise to a seven-point victory.
Riviera Golf Club struck through Eric Gozo’s 35 and Michael Mendoza’s 34 to take second place with 463 points. Other scorers were King Stehmeier and Richard Salcedo with 28 apiece.
Forest Hills settled for third with 455, drawing a pair of 32s from Augusto Pacheco and Jose Inigo Raymundo, a 31 from Joshua Nicolas Buenaventura and 26 from James Bryan Gosiaco.
It was also a close fight in the third-tier Aviator class with Alta Vista emerging on top with 425 points after closing with 103 points at Club Filipino de Cebu. Cebu Country Club Team 2 came in second with 421 while Zamboanga took third with 417.
In the Sportswriters bracket, Club Filipino de Cebu posted a runaway 22-point win over South Cotabato, totaling 386 points. Third place went to San Juanico Golf Park with 357 points.
Alta Vista made it two in a row after its second team ruled the Friendship class with 326 points, 27 points ahead of Liloan Golf Club. Apo Golf Orogold Club placed third with 298.
The annual event, held with the theme “Back to Ignite,” was supported by platinum sponsors ABS-CBN Global, Asian Journal, Airbus, and NUSTAR Resort and Casino. Gold sponsors include Radio Mindanao Network, Mastercard, MemoRieS FM 89.9 Cebu, University of Mindanao Broadcasting Network, PLDT/Smart, and Konsulta MD.