Villamor ties Tagaytay at WGAP helm
Vilamor assembled a 149 then nipped Sta. Elena in the countback to snare the Class B honors and gain a share of the lead with Tagaytay, which struggled at home after three legs of the 2019 Champion WGAP Circuit at Midlands and Lucky 9 courses recently.
Angelita Navalta and Beatrice Tronco shot 42 and 39 Stableford points, respectively, and Melissa Gozum and Katrina Yupangco backed them up with identical 34 points as the Villamor ladies foiled their Sta. Elena counterparts from completing a two-title romp in the course-hopping circuit organized by the Women’s Golf Association of the Philippines.
Sta. Elena dominated Class C and settled for second in Class B with Divina Nemec, Misako Ogihara, Nancy Ortiga and Lily Chan carding 39, 38, 37 and 35 points, respectively, for a five-point haul that stood out in the day and put the team in solo third in the overall race with seven points, just a point behind Villamor and Tagaytay.
With Class A winner and defending WGAP circuit champion Forest Hills, Alabang and Canlubang toting identical six points, Wack Wack hiking its output to five and Fernando Air Base improving with four points, a fierce battle looms when the circuit sponsored by Champion heads to Manila Southwoods for the fourth stop on July 15.
Sharing individual honors in the third leg were Jeong Sook Cho of Eagle Ridge (41 points-Class A), Vids Torralba of Alabang (39 points-Class B) and Caroline Cheng of Camp Aguinaldo (50 points-Class C).
Sta. Elena outclassed the Class C field with a 169 behind Calene Ong (45), Cheese Ong (43), Gia Suarez (41) and Surlianti Walker (40) for an 11-shot victory over Camp Aguinaldo, which pooled a 158, with Wack Wack taking third spot with a157 followed by Tagaytay (154), Fernando Air Base (153), Alabang (153), Eagle Ridge (153), Forest Hills (152), Canlubang (140), Orchard (136) and Villamor (134).
Tagaytay, meanwhile, failed to cash in on its so-called home-course edge, settling for a pair of third place finishes in Classes A and B while ending up fourth in Class C although the Highlanders remained in joint overall lead with Villamor with eight points.
Forest Hills, which rallied in the final leg to edge Sta. Elena by one for the overall crown last year, routed the Class A field with a 157 for a huge 13-point romp over Fernando Air Base with Elizabeth Valen and Jonah Ilagan leading the charge with 42 and 41 points, respectively, and Grace Cho and Grace Atienza chipping in 37 points apiece.
Tagaytay came in third with a 142 followed by Wack Wack (141), Camp Aguinaldo (141), Alabang (139), Sta. Elena (138), Canlubang (136) and Villamor (132).
Tagaytay scored a 146 to likewise finish third in Class B with Alabang placing fourth with 140 followed by Fernando Air Base (139), Orchard (135), Camp Aguinaldo (132), Wack Wack (125), Manila Southwoods (115) and Forest Hills (109).
