Pinoy Golfer Blog

It’s been six years since I first came to Davao as a member of the media covering the PAL Interclub. That almost seems like another lifetime ago; I was the associate editor of Swing Magazine and we were in the process of producing our 6th issue. I was very much a rookie then and wandering around wide eyed and in amazement of everything that was going on around me. This time is different. The 65th PAL Interclub is the biggest ever. This year 160 teams have made the trek to Davao to compete in both the seniors and regular divisions. At ten persons per team, that makes 1,600 golfers that have come to test themselves against two very different and challenging golf courses. Apo Golf Club... Read More

I get invited to a lot of tournaments but there is one that stands out in my mind as the most organized, most meticulously run that I’ve had the pleasure to play in the whole year; the Lexus Cup. The tournament is organized by Lexus Philippines as a way to thank their customers and the Lexus Club of the Philippines for their support and continued patronage. The only requirement for entry is that you must own a Lexus. There is no entry fee, the carts and caddies are included in your entry as was the sumptuous dinner that followed but more on that later. I was incredibly excited when I received my invitation to the tournament which came two months in advance of the appointed date. I played... Read More

Miguel Tabuena might not have won the Philippine Open but with the 96th Philippine Open televised in 200 countries, he gave the world all a taste of his awesome potential. It is one of the most difficult things in golf to follow one record round with another. Granted, that doesn’t make his final round 81 any easier to swallow, but this experience is sure to make him stronger in the future. Few 17-year olds get to play in the championship flight of a professional tournament so Miguel is still ahead of the curve. Chin up, Miguel! You still made us proud. Besides Miguel, I can’t think of anyone more worthy of winning the 96th Philippine Open than Mardan Mamat. Not only did the 44-year... Read More

From the Asian Tour - Manila, February 12: An emotional Mardan Mamat of Singapore coasted to a comfortable five-stroke victory at the ICTSI Philippine Open to end a six-year winless run on Sunday. The 44-year-old picked up his third Asian Tour victory with a closing one-under-par 71 at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club’s East course to complete a commanding wire-to-wire victory with an eight-under-par 280 aggregate. Mo Joong-kyung of Korea threatened briefly before finishing a distant second in the US$300,000 Asian Tour event, signing off with a 74 while top Filipino honours went to Antonio Lascuna who returned a 69 for tied third place with Japan’s Azuma Yano, who signed for a 70. However,... Read More

Manila, February 11: Singaporean veteran Mardan Mamat rode a hot putter to hold a slender one-shot lead over a fast-charging Filipino teenager Miguel Tabuena after the third round of the ICTSI Philippine Open on Saturday. Mardan, chasing a third Asian Tour victory, holed several huge par saves en route to a battling two-under-par 70 at a wind-swept Wack Wack Golf and Country Club’s East course to lead on seven-under-par 209 in Asia’s oldest national Open. His overnight three-shot lead was reduced by Tabuena’s brilliant course record-equaling 67 while Korea’s Mo Joong-kyung fired a 68 to trail by two on 211 with only the top-three players breaking par after 54 holes. Earlier, Hwang Inn-choon... Read More

Miguel Tabuena equaled the course record of the newly revamped East Course at Wack Wack Golf and Country Club with a 5-under par round of 67 in the swirling winds that have come to define the Philippine Open Golf Championship. The mark was set earlier in the day by Korea’s Hwang Inn Choon. Playing in the second to the last flight with Mo Joong Kyung and Ben Fox of the United States, Tabuena and Mo started the fireworks early when both birdied the first hole. They seemed to feed off each other as both birdied three of their four opening holes. Both threw the odd bogey into their round (Mo at the 6th and Miguel at the difficult 8th) but it mattered little when the birdies were falling... Read More

You’d be smiling too if you had a 3-shot lead going into the weekend on one of the hardest golf courses that the Tour plays on all year. Mardan Mamat turned his round on Wack Wack Golf and Country Club’s vaunted East Course into a virtual stroll in the park, laughing his way around holes that reduced his fellow competitors to tears. All this in the swirling winds that finally made their appearance at the 2012 Philippine Open. Mamat played bogey-free golf and could seemingly do no wrong. Not that he didn’t hit any poor shots; he did but managed to miss in the right places as he did on 16 and 17. This streak of luck late in his round allowed him to maintain his 3-shot lead... Read More

With Typhoon Quiel bearing down on Luzon, the weather at the 2011 ICTSI Sherwood Hills Classic took a sudden turn for the worse. The sunny, benign conditions were gone and the wind blew harder than it had all week. The scores went up, everyone struggled. Everyone except Elmer Salvador. Salvador took hold of the ICTSI Sherwood Hills Classic by the scruff of the neck under the most trying conditions of the week and lapped the field beating runners-up Mars Pucay and Artemio Murakami by a whopping 12-stokes. It was a massacre. Salvador started like a house on fire with birdies on the first three holes, making a mockery of what is one of the hardest opening corners in local golf. He cooled off slightly... Read More

Elmer Salvador took advantage of a difficult course setup to separate himself from the rest of the field with 5-under par 67 to push his two day total to 9-under par 135 at the ICTSI Sherwood Hills Classic. His 5 birdie, no bogey performance left him 4 strokes clear of Cassius Casas who valiantly tried to keep pace with the red-hot Salvador. The wind shifted today and caught many unaware. Holes that previously played easy proved to be the downfall of many. Yesterday’s co-leaders Tony Lascuña, Gene Bondoc and Mars Pucay all struggled; Pucay was 2-over for today’s round, Lascuña 3-over and Bondoc 4-over to lose ground to the hard charging Salvador. The round of the day went to the... Read More

This week the PGT revisits one of Pinoygolfer.com’s favorite golf courses, Sherwood Hills Golf Club. Always a good test for golfers of all levels, Sherwood Hills’ normal hard and fast conditions were noticeably absent having just weathered the fury of Typhoon Pedring. But the golf course weathered the storm and seemed none the worse for wear save for some standing water in a few bunkers and softer conditions than normal. The greens were in fine form rolling 11.5 on the stimp. But the soft conditions left it vulnerable and four golfers; Mars Pucay, Elmer Salvador, Gene Bondoc and Tony Lascuña took full advantage each recording 4-under par 68′s to sit tied for the lead of the... Read More

Ababa rallies to claim Riviera golf crown Jhonnel Ababa rallied from seven strokes down and nipped Cassius Casas by one with a closing one-under 70 for the ICTSI Riviera Classic crown as erstwhile leader Jay Bayron collapsed with an 81 at Riviera’s Langer course today. Ababa came through with three birdies in the last 11 holes in second-to-last flight for a four-day total of 217, which was good enough to win the crown after Bayron threw away strokes in the last six holes. It was Ababa’s second title in the last five legs of the circuit after topping the ICTSI Iloilo Golf Challenge at Sta. Barbara last July where he also rallied from five strokes down to beat Bayron in a playoff. Ababa, who... Read More

Daily update from Jong Arcaño Bayron fires 67, storms ahead by 5 Jay Bayron putted his way to a 4-under-par 67 yesterday and pulled away by four shots over Rey Pagunsan in the second round of the P1 million ICTSI Riviera Classic at Riviera’s Langer layout in Silang, Cavite. Coming off a shaky first round 73 late Wednesday, Bayron took full advantage of his early morning start by ramming home six birdies inside 10 feet against a bogey from an errant drive for a 32-35 card. The runaway winner of the Aboitiz Invitational presented by ICTSI in Cebu two weeks ago, Bayron moved closer to a back-to-back title romp in the ICTSI-Philippine Golf Tour. With a 140 aggregate, Pagunsan rolled in a 20-footer... Read More

This post courtesy of the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Jong Arcaño. Cassius Casas and Antonio Asistio II shot similar 71s at Riviera’s Langer layout today to share the lead at the start of the P1 million ICTSI Riviera Classic. They took a one-stroke lead over Anthony Fernando, the former national champion also in pursuit of a breakthrough victory in the circuit who overcame two double-bogeys and two bogeys with four birdies for solo third at two-over 72. Randy Garalde bogeyed the last three holes and settle for joint fourth at 73 with fancied Jay Bayron, Jhonnel Ababa, Rey Pagunsan and Rami Bisera. Gene Bondoc tied amateurs Clyde Mondilla, Art Arbole and Korean Wang Jeung Hun while Jerson... Read More

Press release from the Asian Tour Cebu, Philippines, September 3: Jay Bayron of the Philippines soared to victory at the US$65,000 Aboitiz Invitational presented by ICTSI with a flawless final round six-under-par 64 on Saturday. Bayron, who finished second at the ICTSI Philippine Open in May, birdied four of his last six holes to defeat Jonathan Moore of the United States and Filipinos Antonio Lascuna, Elmer Salvador and Marvin Dumandan by five shots at the Cebu Country Club. Bayron turned in 34 and birdied the 10th hole before saving a pivotal save for par on 11 from 21 feet. He then cruised with birdies on 13, 15, 16 and 17. He pocketed US$11,375 for his win. “The par save was crucial because... Read More

1 Jay BAYRON 71 74 69 4 5 3 4 3 4 3 4 4 34 3 4 4 2 4 2 4 3 4 30 64 278 -2 2 Jonathan MOORE 72 71 70 4 5 3 5 3 4 4 4 4 36 4 5 4 2 4 3 5 3 4 34 70 283 3 2 Elmer SALVADOR 71 71 71 4 5 3 4 3 4 4 4 4 35 4 5 4 3 4 3 4 4 4 35 70 283 3 2 Antonio LASCUNA 73 74 69 4 4 3 4 3 4 4 4 3 33 4 3 4 3 4 3 5 4 4 34 67 283 3 2 Marvin DUMANDAN 70 75 71 4 4 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 33 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 4 5 34 67 283 3 6 Cassius CASAS 71 73 72 3 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 34 5 4 3 4 3 3 5 3 4 34 68 284 4 6 Rufino BAYRON 73 71 71 3 4 3 4 4 4 5 5 4 36 4 3 4 4 4 3 5... Read More