BACOLOD. – Sarah Ababa churned out a near-impeccable round in tough conditions to upstage a slew of aces tipped to dominate the ICTSI Negros Occidental Golf Classic presented by More Power, firing a one-under 69 Wednesday to open a huge four-stroke cushion over Chanelle Avaricio and two others here.
That she hit all the fairways and greens spoke well of the preparations and mindset of the player who last won on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour at Sherwood Hills in 2015 and the shotmaker from the talented golfing clan from Davao could be on her way to ending the long spell with a sustained charge in the next two days.
“Tinamaan ko yata lahat ng fairways and I think I hit 14 greens,” said Ababa, whose superb round netted her birdies on Nos. 2 and 14 against a bogey on the 11th for the lone under-par card in a day of floundering fortunes.
“I’ll just stay patient. Mahirap basahin ang greens, you need to match the speed and allowance,” added Ababa, who honed and sharpened her skills for the resumption of the circuit at South Pacific Golf and Leisure Club in Davao and at Orchard Golf and Country Club in Cavite.
Avaricio, winner of three LPGT legs last year who also toughened up in the US and Thailand tours, kept Ababa within sight in a separate flight but double-bogeyed the par-4 17th and finished with a 73, enabling Harmie Constantino and Danielly Uy to tie her at second.
Constantino, who foiled Avaricio’s back-to-back title bid at Pradera Verde then won the inaugural ICTSI Match Play Invitational at Villamor late last year, also preserved a one-over card after 15 holes. But like Avaricio, she wavered at the finish, bogeying Nos. 16 and 18 for a similar 36-37 card, while Uy, who scored a breakthrough win in wicked conditions at Riviera-Langer in 2021, birdied the 16th but holed out with a bogey for a 73.
“Mostly, everything was tough — hangin and the greens — and had unlucky bounces on the fairways,” said Avaricio, who nevertheless remained upbeat of her chances with 36 holes remaining in the P875,000 event organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.
“I’ll try to keep my drives on the fairway and my iron shots just around the green for easy up-and-down tomorrow,” she added.
