IMG Qualifiers: South bets sparkle
Top bets from the South shone on the opening day of the IMG Junior World Qualifiers at the Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club in General Trias, Cavite on Friday.
Jacob Cajita of Cebu shared the lead in the boys’ 15-18 division with Bobe Salahog, a caddie’s son from Bacolod, after firing a three-over-par 75 at the Aoki course.
Alethea Gaccion of Cagayan de Oro, on the other hand, paced the girls’ 15-18 following an 81, two shots ahead of Anya Cedo, Reese Ng and Kiara Montebon.
Gaccion edged Montebon via playoff in the Pueblo de Oro Junior Open organized by the Junior Golf Foundation of the Philippines last January.
In the boys’ 11-12, Ralph Batican, another top bet from Cagayan de Oro, took a six-shot lead over David Teves.
Close fights were shaping up in the other brackets.
Geoffrey Tan was up by only one shot over Rafael Leonio in the boys’ 13-14, Vito Sarines led Jared Saban by two in the boys’ 9-10, Celine Abalos was two shots ahead of Levonne Tan in the girls’ 13-14 while Quincy Pilac was a stroke ahead of Aerin Chan.
In the girls’ 11-12, Lisa Sarines led sister Mona by one after an 83 with Nicole Gan and Precious Zaragosa tied for third on identical 84s.
The top four finishers in each division will earn spots in the IMG Junior World Championships in San Diego, California.
The three-day event, organized by the JGFP under Oliver Tan, ends on Sunday. The top 10 scores in each division: Boys’ 15-18 — Jacob Cajita 75, Bobe Salahog 75, Zachary Castro 78, Sean Granada 79, John Bernis 80, Santino Pineda 80, Cliff Nuneza 81, John Canlas 83, Antonio Escano 83, Sean Young 84, Joshua Buenaventura 85, Zachary Villaroman 86, Cody Langamin 88, Glenn
Unabia 88
Boys’ 13-14 — Geoffrey Tan 76, Rafael Leonio 77, Patrick Tambalque 80, Tristan Padilla 81, Emilio Hernandez 82, Alexis Nailga 83, Christoffer Nadales 89, Vince Naranjo 89, Clement Ordeneza 89, Alexander Crisostomo 90, Nini Tiongko 90, Chaz Limketkai 91, Sebastian Sajuela 92, Aenzo Sulaik 92
Boys’ 11-12 — Ralph Batican 79, David Teves 85, Zianbeau Edoc 90, Inigo Gallardo 93, Anton Zingapan 94, Javier Bautista 95, Roman Ungco 95, John Gomez 96, Jacob Gomez 98, William Sulit 98, Ken Guillermo 99, Jared Ng 102
Boys’ 9-10 — Vito Sarines 79, Jared Saban 81, Chan Ahn 82, Franco Qui 87, Race Manhit 88, Jacob Casuga 89, Gerard Handog 90, Mico Woo 93, Juan Cruz 95, Laurence Saban 95, Michael Torres 95, Travis Chua 96
Girls’ 15-18 — Alethea Gaccion 81, Anya Cedo 83, Kiara Montebon 83, Reese Ng 83, Grace Quintanilla 84, Velinda Castil 85, Gabrielle Rosca 85, Eagle Superal 86, Burberry Zhang 87, Julianna Go 91, Lia Duque 93, Anna Fernandez 93, Dominique Gotiong 97, Crista Minoza 107
Girls’ 13-14 — Celine Abalos 81, Levonne Tan 83, Alessandra Luciano 84, Tashanah Balangauan 85, Isabella Tabanas 85, Chloe Rada 92, Zedge Plete 93, Mealea Anciano 95, Lois Lane Go 98, Chloe Ang 102, Mikela Guillermo 150
Girls’ 11-12 — Lisa Sarines 83, Mona Sarines 86, Nicole Gan 87, Precious Zaragosa 87, Brittany Tamayo 88, Tiffany Bernardino 105, Keira Que 109, Samarah Torres 117, Summer Legaspi 123, Althea Banez 126
Girls’ 9-10 — Quincy Pilac 84, Aerin Chan 85, Rafella Batican 86, Cailey Gonzales 95, Makayla Verano 100, Mikaela Torres 103, Melanya Adiviso 110, Kelsey Bernardino 110, Casedy Cuenca 113, Kelly Ng 113, Atasha Naranjo 125.