Bianca Pagdanganan and Jed Dy combined superbly in foursome, coming through with a two-under 66 and turning what was expected to be a fierce, down-to-the-wire finish into a runaway seven-shot triumph in the National Doubles Amateur Golf Championship at the Camp Aguinaldo Golf Club in QC.
Just one-up on Jet Hernandez and Josh Jorge after the aggregate play Friday, Pagdanganan and Dy stayed ahead with a birdie-bogey stint at the front then broke a run of pars with an eagle on the par-5 18th, their closing 31 in the rain capping a triumphant first-ever team-up between an Asian Games bronze medalist and a former Junior World champion.
With their 63 in four-ball and 140 in aggregate formats, Pagdanganan and Dy finished with a 269 total, beating the Hernandez-Jorge pair by seven for the overall crown in the season-ending tournament of the National Golf Association of the Philippines and sponsored by the MVP Sports Foundation.
“It was a team effort and we just complemented with each other. But ate Bianca is really a good player,” said Dy of her partner, who won the bronze in the recnet Asian Games and helped anchor the Phl romp in team play.
The victory also augured well for the winning tandem heading to the 2019 Philippine Amateur Open Golf Championship beginning Jan. 3 at Riviera’s Langer course in Silang, Cavite.
Hernandez and Jorge kept it close with an opening 36 but they fumbled with three bogeys in the first five holes at the back and limped with another 36 for a 72 and a 276. They settled for the Group I diadem.
Don Petil and JR Salahug combined for a 71 for a 281 then nipped the Paqo Barro-Jeff Jung pair, which also shot a 71, in the countback for third place overall in the event held as part of the PLDT Group National Amateur Golf Tour and backed by Cignal and Metro Pacific.
Lanz Uy and Ryan Monsalve carded a 76 for 282 while Sean Ramos and Gabby Macalaguim hobbled with a 78 for 284 followed by Kristine Torralba and Santino Laurel (75-285), Manfred and David Guangko (75-286), Sam Martirez-Diana Araneta (72-289) and Masaichi Otake-Rald Sarmiento (75-293).
Meanwhile, Miguel Roque and Santino Diokno struggled with a 78 but held on to capture the Group II crown with a 307, edging Franco Rivera and Ciaran O’Driscoll, who rallied with a 75-310, by three, while Louie Aguinaldo and Beleran Col also survived a faltering windup to clinch the Group III plum with a 298 after an 82, two shots ahead of Vic Se and Mon Capistrano, who shot a 76.
