Eagle Ridge rules Sta. Lucia Tour anew

MANILA, Philippines - Eagle Ridge needed a strong finishing kick to bring home the Club of the Year award of the Sta. Lucia Golf Tour that culminated with the two-leg Manila stop at Summit Point and Eagle Ridge recently.

Trailing by six points in the COY race after the first round at Summit Point in Lipa, Batangas, the Eagle Ridge contingent turned things around at their home course the next day with victories in Groups II and III and added a runner-up finish in Group IV to peg its final tally to 164 to retain the title.

Erstwhile leader Summit Point struggled with the difficult conditions of Eagle Ridge’s Aoki course as it yielded to the hosts’ familiarity of the layout and wound up a close second with 159.

Royale Tagaytay, the squad with the most participants in Sta. Lucia Land’s three-leg tournament co-presented by Royale Homes, PLDT Home, Readycon, Marriot Hotel and OPMC, was third with 138. Beverly Place was fourth with 115, followed by Alta Vista 89, Lakewood 80, Rancho Palos Verdes 48, Caliraya Springs 42 and Orchard 41.

“We staged a successful tour this year and we promise a more busy schedule for our fellow Sta. Lucia members next year,” said event chairman Vincent Santos, who gave a hint of what’s in store for clubs operating under the Sta. Lucia Land umbrella next year.

Santos, who co-chairs the SL Tour with Jason Robles, bared the addition of an Amateur Tour and a Pro-Am competition, both of which would happen sometime within the first and second quarters of 2015. “It’s going to be an entirely new concept designed to be both challenging and enjoyable for those participating.”

Also awarded were individual winners –  Eagle Ridge’s Ireneo Arbues (Class A), Beverly Place’s Joel Manlutac (B), Lakewood’s Eduardo Aberin (C), and Royale Tagaytay’s Maricel Amor (D).

The event which had Cemex, Mizuno, Empire, golfph.com, Pacsports, PAL, Acacia Hotel, Marco Polo Hotel, Steel Asia, Sta. Lucia Ready Mix, Pag-Asa Steel and Pocari Sweat as other sponsors featured aggregate scoring for the first day and best-ball for the second day. The first leg was hosted by Rancho Palos Verdes in Davao and the second by Alta Vista of Cebu.

It was Eagle’s seventh overall plum in the series followoing wins in 2000, 2001,  2006, 2010 and 2013.