MARC NAVAL grabbed the opening day spotlight in the Southwoods Invitational as he scored a hole-in-one on No. 7 of the Legends course and combined for 84 points with guest partner Miguel de Asis to set the early pace in Division II in Carmona, Cavite, on Wednesday.
Pablo Olivarez and Roberto Ronin Leviste pooled 83 points in Aggregate format at Legends while the Gerardo Cadiz-Dante Maldia, Brian Park-Eden Hernandez and Bong Agojo-Monching Rivera pairs matched 77 points to stay within striking distance of the Naval-de Asis tandem as they head to the Masters course where play shifts to Best-Ball under the Stableford Points scoring system with applied course handicaps.
But Naval already emerged the big winner as he claimed a seven-night Eastern Mediterranean Cruise onboard the Odyssey of the Seas, including two round-trip Manila-Rome-Manila tickets, and P100,000 worth of free bet certificates from PAGCOR Casino Filipino, for his hole-in-one feat.
Naval used a TaylorMade 8-iron and Pro VI #2 ball in acing the 132-yard hole with de Asis, fellow Southwoods member Raoul Viray and guest Richard Lista.
Organizers, meanwhile, said if more than one player makes a hole-in-one on the same hole, the prizes will be shared.
In other early results, John Molina-Regis Casquejo and Renie Floro-Kauzo Murakami took charge in the premier Division I with 96 points apiece at Masters (Best-Ball) with Ryan Abdon and Wally Barzaga coming through with 94 and Brixton Aw and Raymond Co scoring 92 points in the Southwoods’s member-guest tournament backed by year-round sponsor Royal Caribbean/Baron Travel, hole-in-one sponsors Ogawa, Alpine Motors Philippines, Toyota Silang, Pagcor Casino Filipino and Klio International.
Arnold Jumalon and George Hong, on the other hand, shot 80 points at Legends for the Division III lead with Shigeyuki Masutomi and Kazuaki Yukawa just behind with 79 and Louie Cansino and Ferdinand Troy Si submitting 78 points, while Iñigo Golingay Jr. and Rolando Rabutin and Gus Molina and Luis Rey Velasco matched 96 points at Masters for joint lead in Division IV and two points ahead of Shambu Kumaran-Preet Inder Singh.
Robert Tan and Ronald Bairan showed the way in Division V with 96 points at Masters with Godofredo Asunto and Guillermo Viola Jr. scoring 94 points and the Willie Liao-Mark Soriquez tandem posting 90 points for third in the event supported by (Platinum) The Turf Company Inc., CWC International Corp. and Newport World Resorts; (gold) Agrexplore Corp., Alpha Quality (GFX) Leads Agriculture/Malveda Properties Development Corp., Mikro-Tech Capital Inc./Capital One Energy Inc., The Manor and The Forest Lodge at Camp John Hay; and (silver) Abomar Equipment Sales Corp., Club Leisure Management Corp., First Global Conglomerate, Camaya Coast, Le Chef Inc., Mit-Air Inc. and Prestige Golf Access & Clubshares Inc.
The bronze backers are Absolute Sales Corp., Ayala Land Premier, Boeing Material Handling Corp., Camp John Hay Golf Club, Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose Law Offices, Coca-Cola Beverages Phil., Escala Tagaytay, Federal Management & Maintenance, Inc., Forest Hills Golf and Country Club, Gamboa & Sons, Inc. (GranSportivo) and GG&A Clubshares.