Philippines Golf Academy

The 2011 ICTSI Mount Malarayat Championship was almost washed out by a tropical depression turned typhoon. Driving down to the golf course, the weather got bleaker and bleaker. By the time we drove onto the property, the rain was coming down in sheets.

The first day start was delayed by an hour then quickly aborted when the greens became saturated with water. Play was delayed by another hour and change before being abandoned altogether because of the inclement weather. What we didn’t realize was that the typhoon had descended on us full force.

The next day was only slightly better. It rained all night leaving the greens barely able to sustain play. The maintenance crew was kept busy all day with squeegees, running around making sure the greens were playable. After another late start, play somehow managed to resume and a decision was made that we’d try to get all four rounds of play in by the weekend. The weather relented and the tournament proceeded, full swing.

The first two rounds were crammed into a day and a half with just a handful of matches on either nine left stranded on the course at nightfall. On the second full day of play, the unfinished matches were played to conclusion, the cut was made mid-day and the first of the final rounds got underway after lunch. Although play had to be halted as the light dimmed, Tony Lascuña played superb golf in spite of the trying conditions to stand at -10 with 6 holes left to play in his third round. Up and comer Thanyakon Khrongpha from Thailand had the hot round of the day going and sat just a stroke behind Lascuña with three holes left in his third round. Juvic Pagunsan, the hottest player on the Philippine Golf Tour was a stroke further adrift with Jhonnel Ababa one further back and prodigy Miguel Tabuena another stroke in arrears. It was shaping up to be a very exciting final round.

Time constraints dictated that the remainder of the third round and the final round would be played in quick succession without changes in the pairings which meant some of the leaders would not be playing together making following the action difficult. But the results were worth the effort.

Khrongpha tied Lascuña for the lead at -10 going into his final round and just picked up where he left off. He made three birdies and an eagle to make the turn at -5 for his last round and -15 for the tournament with the lead going into the inward nine. Juvic Pagunsan and Miguel Tabuena, playing with Lascuña had tied Lascuña for second at -10 but couldn’t make any headway on Khrongpha’s advantage heading to the back nine.

The Thai cooled off somewhat and toured his last nine in even par but it proved enough to give him the win. Lascuña, Pagunsan and Tabuena had an almighty tussle on their inward nine and all were tied at -12 at one point. But Tabuena fell away with bogeys on the closing holes. Lascuña bogeyed the last to hand second place to Pagunsan while Tabuena finished alone in fourth. A disappointing end for the youngster, but he still has so much golf in front of him that this should be a great learning experience for him.

Jobim Carlos finished as the low amateur, a laudable achievement as just making the cut was a feat in itself in light of the strength of the field.

In the end, the tournament was an object lesson in perseverance in the face of adversity. Not many thought that completing the four rounds of championship golf was possible but the Asean Tour and Philippine Golf Tour staff scrambled and gutted it out to make it happen. It was long days for everyone but the result was absolutely worth the effort.

The weather relented enough for the tournament to finish but the dark skies were omnipresent

Tony Lascuña was tied for the lead going into the last round but shaky putting kept him out of the win

Miguel Tabuena proved that he deserves all the hype surrounding his turning pro

Juvic Pagunsan is the hottest Filipino on the Tour without a doubt

Low amateur Jobim Carlos

Read the whole story on:http://pinoygolfer.com

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