Castro, Constantino bag Jr match play crowns
LUIS Miguel Castro nearly blew a huge lead but held sway to repulse Carl Corpus in the stretch and hack out a 3&1 decision while Harmie Constantino coasted to a 7&6 romp over Tomi Arejola to share the Philippine Junior Amateur Match Play Golf Championship crowns at Riviera’s Langer course in Cavite on Friday.
Castro, who eased past Josh
13 holes of their morning face-off
their marathon 36-hole duel as Corpus rallied to within one by winning three of the last six holes in their second trip at the front.
But the top-seeded Castro recovered in time, taking the 10th and 11th holes to build another three- hole cushion. He yielded No. 14 but stayed 2-up in the next four holes to clinch the victory in the event sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation and held as part of the PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour.
It was a sorry setback for Corpus, who routed Sean Ramos, 6&4, in the Final Four but fell short of his comeback bid and missed duplicating his victory in the Philippine Amateur Open Match Play at Orchard last month.
Constantino, meanwhile, restaked her claim as the best player in the ranks today, nailing her second match play crown after blasting Mikha Fortuna in the Phl Open.
The No. 1 Constantino imposed her will early, seizing control after nine holes, 2- up, and padding her lead to four holes at the break. She never let up at resumption, winning four while yielding just one hole in the next 11 holes to fashion out the lopsided triumph.
- stantino in the semis, took third place with a 4&3 victory over Korean Kim Seo Young while Ramos also posted the same scoreline in trouncing Jorge for the bronze in the boys’ side of the event organized and conducted by the National Golf Association of the Philippines.
In the Special Division, second seed Vince Tiamsic edged No. 1 Eddison Tabalin, 2&1, to claim the boys’ 12-and-under crown while Reese Ng, also the No. 2 ranked player, upended top seed Gabie Rosca, 2-up, for the girls diadem.