Princess sustains form, cops Sarawak golf crown

MANILA, Philippines - Princess Superal rode on a scorching windup to fire a seven-under 65 and score a come-from-behind victory over Pauline del Rosario in the 17th Chief Minister’s Cup at the Kelab Golf Club in Kuching, Sarawak over the weekend, her second in as many weeks.

Two behind her The Country Club teammate and recent winner of the Thailand Amateur Open, Superal rattled off five birdies in the last nine holes in an awesome display of shotmaking, iron game and putting to complete a 34-31 card and capture the overall championship with a 54-hole total of 212.

It was the second straight victory for Superal, who could not seem to regain her winning touch after ruling the California Juniors tournament in August until she edged Del Rosario to bag the Sabah International Junior Masters in Kota Kinabalu last week.

Del Rosario, who also scored back-to-back victories in the Thailand Amateur and Thailand Juniors  last month, notched her third win as she took the Class A diadem after matching par 72 in the event which served as part of the Sarawak Junior Golf Tournament. She wound up with a 217.

Team Phl-TCC also bagged the team championship with rounds of 217-225-208 for a 650, beating the JGA Girls of Johor Bahru and Windsor Girls of Sarawak.

Mikhaela Fortuna shot a 71 and took runner-up honors with a 222 in Class A while Abby Arevalo completed TCC’s domination of the event with a 225 after a 78. Korean Kim Joo Jeon skied to an 81 and ended up fourth at 230 followed by Sam Martirez (79-234) and Sofia Chabon (80-235).

Bernice Olivarez-Ilas, however, hobbled with an 81 for a 238 and finished 17 shots behind runaway Class B winner Winnie Kong of Malaysia, who pooled a 221 after a 75.

Superal, who opened with a 72 and wavered with a 75 in the second round, bucked her bogeys on Nos. 2 and 7 with birdies on Nos. 4, 5, 8 and 9 to grab a one-stroke lead over Del Rosario, who bogeyed Nos. 3, 5 and 6 against birdies on Nos. 7 and 9, at the turn.