Manila Southwoods cap 7th straight Fil-Am golf crown

POWERHOUSE Manila Southwoods slowed down with a 115 but still pulled away by 44 points over Forest Hills to all but wrap up its seventh straight championship in the Fil-Am Invitational golf tournament at Baguio Country Club yesterday.

Lanz Uy fired 33 points to power the Carmona-based squad’s third round charge while firming up his bid for the individual crown in the centerpiece division. Aguri Iwasaki carded 29 points while Sean Ramos and Taisei Shimizu added 27 and 26 points, respectively, for the defending six-time champion, whose top gun Aidric Chan continued to grope for form.

Chan, who ended the country’s long title spell in the premier side (15-18) of the Junior World in San Diego last July, failed to count anew with a 24 but Uy, who assembled a 113 total, and the rest took care of business to put Southwoods closer to another title romp with a 424 total.

Forest Hills drew 30 points from Inigo Raymundo while Rocky Co, Dan Cruz and Leandro Bagtas chipped in 28, 27 and 26 points, respectively, for a 111 and a 54-hole aggregate of 380 while Royal Northwoods shot a 107 build around Stephen Sui, Joaquin Hernandez and Gido Mandanas’ identical 27 points and Nik Gatmaytan’s 26 points for a 375 output.

Team Time Cargo matched Southwoods’ 115 for a 355.

Southwoods likewise lined itself up for a romp in the Am Championship as it stretched its lead to 20 points with a 344 after a 133 at Camp John Hay course as Masaichi Otake broke par worth 36 points.

Jeff Jung scored 33 points while Santino Laurel and Josh Jorge added 27 and 26, respectively for the young Southwoods squad.

Batangas came away with 121 points on Gary Sales’ one over card worth 35 points while Ricky delos Santos turned in 31 points and Gerald Katigbak and Michael Mendoza shot 28 and 27 points, respectively.

Forest Hills, on the other hand, moved to third after shooting the day’s best 124 as Rodolfo Brobio matched par worth 36 points and Ronnie Littaua, Rodel Mangulabnan and Raffy Garcia backed him up with 31, 29 and 28 points, respectively.

Islander Mizuno slipped to fourth with a 300 after a 116.