by Waylon Galvez
The Philippine women’s golf team brought another honor to the country as it completed a two-gold haul in the Santi Cup of the 2018 Southeast Asian Amateur Golf Team Championships last Sunday in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.
Without Asian Games individual gold winner Yuka Saso, Bianca Pagdanganan shone brightest for the PH side as she won the individual gold apart from steering the team to the championship.
Pagdangangan and Go made it a remarkable 1-2 finish for the PH side with the former posting a 10-under 278, three shots ahead of Go.
Pagdanganan and Go were Saso’s teammates that won the team gold event in the Asian Games held in Jakarta.
The national team had a four-day total score of 559, while Thailand had 577 and Malaysia 593.
“We are so proud of our team’s performance at this event,” said Philippine delegation head Bones Floro, who is also the secretary-General of the National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP).
“The Philippines has had a rich history with many wins, we are happy that we have added more to it with this good showing. Together with the stellar Asian Games gold medals, this is a most welcomed Christmas gift.”
“Truly a big year for Philippine golf,” added Floro, who was joined by head coach Rick Gibson and team captain Pepot Inigo in the event that also had the men’s event Putra Cup, the 16-under boy’s event Lion City Cup and the 16-under girl’s event Kartini Cup.
The men’s team of Luis Castro, Kristoffer Arevalo, Adric Chan and Carl Corpus placed second behind Thailand, while the girl’s team of Junia Gabasa, Nicole Abelar and Eagle Ace Superal likewise finished second overall behind the Thais.
The boy’s team of Sean Ramos, Josh Jorge and Miguel Ilas finished fifth overall.