In-form Harmie Constantino hit late birdies to fire a three-under 69 and stormed to a four-stroke lead over Thai P. Poorapanaopa halfway through the Singha Thailand Junior World Golf Championships at the Royal Hua Hin Golf Course in Hua Hin, Thailand late Friday.
Constantino, coming off a runaway victory in the NGAP Northern Luzon Regional last week and member of the winning Philippine team in the recent World Junior Girls Championship in Canada, gunned down five birdies, including back-to-back from No. 15 to negate a two-bogey mishap as she broke away from a four-way tie to zoom ahead at 144 halfway through Thailand’s premier amateur championship.
Poorapanaopa, who shared the first round lead with Constantino at 75, birdied the 18th to save a 73 for a 148 while The Country Club’s Sofia Chabon birdied No. 8 but reeled back from a double-bogey on the ninth. She parred the backside and wound up with a 73 for third at 149, five shots adrift in the premier Class A division.
Kayla Nocum hardly recovered from an 84 with a 79 for a 164.
Yuka Saso, who bagged the individual gold in the World Junior Girls, slipped after a lead-sharing 75 as she skied to an 80 for a 155.
TCC’s Bernice Olivarez Ilas also continued to struggle in Class B, hobbling with a 77 for a 156 to fall nine shots off A. Thithikul of Thailand, who had a 147 after a 70 with Laia Barro and Mafy Singson assembling 175 and 179 after an 89 and 90, respectively.
The Filipinos also showed the way in boys play with Carl Corpus and Aidric Chang taking the 1-2 posts in Class A with 143 and 146 with 70 and 71, respectively.
