Philippines Golf Academy

- The ICTSI Mimosa Challenge was aptly named; of the 96 amateur and professional golfers that started on Wednesay, November 10 only one finished under par; the champion Marvin Dumandan. This makes Mimosa Golf and Country Club’s Mountain View course one of the toughest stops on the Tour this year. Part of that was the course’s length; a hair under 7200 yards and the other the bumpy and somewhat inconsistent greens. The course could have played longer still (the Mountain View plays over 7300 yards from the tips) but Tour officials decided that the setup they used was sufficient for their purposes. They were right.

- One of the shortest holes on the golf course proved the most difficult. The 410-yard downhill par 4 third must have played to a stroke average of 6 for the tournament. The hole wraps around the side of the mountain and provides precious little margin for error. There’s OB left and the fairway tilts to the left threatening to kick balls just slightly wayward into the hazard. Birdies were few and far between on this hole; most were relieved to walk away with a par.

Ramil Bisera rues what might have been

- The last day was as exciting as any tournament this year on the Philippine Golf Tour. Second round leader Ramil Bisera started his final round with three straight bogeys and dropped back into a tie with flightmates Marvin Dumandan and Ferdie Aunzo. Richard Sinfuego got to 3-under by the 8th but gave it all back by the 9th. Sadly, his game went South from there and he dropped into a tie for 12th. Anthony Fernando made a good run but the best he could do was tie for 2nd with overnight leader Biscera and amateur Carl Santos Ocampo.

- Marvin Dumandan has made quite a comeback. After missing a spate of cuts in the middle of the year, Marvelous Marvin has stormed back with a vengeance winning back-to-back at Royal Northwoods and now at Mimosa. He sits second to Juvic Pagunsan in the race for the Tour’s Order of Merit and has a chance to overhaul Pagunsan at the Tour finale at Canlubang since Juvic will be in Thailand contesting the King’s Cup. Marvin had intended to compete in Thailand as well, but chances are good that he’s play Canlubang instead to see if he can overhaul Pagunsan and bag a healthy bonus in the process.

- I got my first look at reigning Philippine Amateur champ Clyde Mondilla at the ICTSI Challenge and I came away very impressed with what I saw. He’s a tall, strapping lad with one heck of a golf swing. He’s got a great disposition for the game and is very long off the tee. He’s just 16 years of age and has a world of potential. All he needs now is experience.

Carl Santos Ocampo

- Carl Santos Ocampo, another amateur finished tied for second and came away as the low amateur for the tournament. Carl is the son of a former school mate and has developed into quite a golfer. He started with a 4 over par 76 then closed with two sub-par rounds of 71 to finish tied for second. He, Mondilla, Miguel Tabuena and newly minted Stanford Cardinal Marcel Puyat are the future of Philippine Golf.

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

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