There was no final-day drama as Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club, playing steady when it mattered, picked up the founders’ division crown of the 61st Philippine Airlines Interclub in convincing fashion Saturday.

The NOGCC standouts, skippered by Kokoy Locsin, left their rivals groaning under the weight of their blistering performance at the Bacolod Golf and Country Club, where Francis Gaston and Chris Infante spearheaded the relentless charge on the last day of the competition.

With defending champion Cebu Country Club breathing down their necks heading into the final round, Chris Infante atoned for his 27 points on day 2 by topscoring with 34 points, which is equivalent to a 2-over par 72 in medal play.

Gaston, a former national amateur champion, bucked two errant shots that went out-of-bounds to produce a formidable round of 33 points, while Max Javelona and Jimmy Yusay contributed 27 and 25 respectively.

Their final-round of 119 points allowed them to fend off any challenge mounted by Cebu, which hastened the Marapara win by carding just 106 points in the final round to finish with 440.

“I fielded my steady team in the final round and spread my reliable players in the first two flights and the final flight,” Locsin said. “The plan worked as early as the front nine and Cebu also collapsed”.

Orchard, with 123 points in the final round for a 441 aggregate, snatched second place from the Cebuanos.

“We played them (Cebu) man-to-man, shot-for-shot. For some reason, our confidence grew in the final round. We became more and more aggressive,” Lim said.                              

The Marapara bets’ triumph formally ended Cebu’s three-year reign in the founders’ division, the second-tier category.

More importantly, NOGCC was a champion again after 13 futile years.

Locsin, who is on his third year as captain, dedicated the victory to Alex Montelibano, who passed away in April 2006.

“This is for Alex who kept the team together for many years. We know this win will make him happy,” Locsin said. “This is also special because this our first time to win since 1995”.

“We are happy to have brought honor to the club,” Locsin added.

Ray Lim, a member of the NOGCC squad, said Montelibano was very instrumental in forming a very strong group for the interclub.

Because of their fourth-place finish in Cagayan de Oro, Gaston had downplayed their chances early in the tournament.

Then, they let their game do the talking as NOGCC took a one-point lead at the end of the first round.

The lead swelled to 12 by the second day, thanks to Korean hotshot Jae Yang and Javelona. Cebu, which has a penchant of coming back in the final round threatened on day 3, cutting the lead from 12 to 3 as the Marapara bets struggled on their home-course.

Curiously, the NOGCC players submitted better scores while playing at Binitin, where they picked up 237 of their 456 points.

Also part of the team are Jimmy Yusay, Jimmy Feliciano, Jun B Bantug, Chepe Dulay, Jard De Leon, who led the first-round charge with 30 markers.

Sharing the limelight with Marapara was Victorias, which topped the friendship division with 303 points, ahead of Fil-Am Florida with 296 points.

Eric Golez stood at the vanguard of the assault in the final round with 24 points on the final day of play, while Daryl Patrimonio and Roy Quima posted 21 each. Rene Querubin also counted with 20 points.

The other members of the Victorias team are Cris Saguran, Nilo Chavez, Victor Yu, Enrico Besana, Francis Tupas and Emmanuel Japitana.

Meanwhile, Canlubang Golf and Club took the Interclub men’s regular championship and merit a share of history. 

Since they had earlier ruled the seniors’ division last week, the Laguna parbusters duplicated Luisita Golf and Country Club’s record of three consecutive major sweep from 1991 to 1993.

To stress Canlubang’s sterling year, Mario Labajo won the 36-hole individual title after coming up with 32 and 39 for 71.

Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club closed out 126 to capture second place with 500 while Del Monte made 123 to settle for third with 490.

Those who counted for Southwoods were Gene Bondoc with 35 via the Stableford or PAL scoring that awards one point for bogey, two par, and so on followed by Jin Jun Chun 31 and the 30’s of Justin Limjap and and Charles Hong.

Villamor Golf Club combined for 97 on Jancoup Tambogon’s 31, the 24s of Dodong Bobis and Gary Sales and Rudy Amata’s 18 to romp off with the Sportswriters Division team title with 423.*CPT

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