Ardina girds for US Ladies Amateur Open

SAN DIEGO – Multi-titled Dottie Ardina hopes to ride the momentum of her third Callaway Junior World golf championship crown as she braces for the tough United States women’s amateur championship next month.

Ardina, 14, ruled the girls 13-14 category, Thursday (Friday in Manila) beating Honolulu’s Alina Ching in sudden death at Sycuan Resort course to become the winningest Filipina in the annual world junior golf bash.

“I hope the win run continues,” said Ardina, an ICTSI entry whose three-title result in the Junior World is the second best for the Philippines behind Ramon Brobio’s four crowns.

The US Women’s amateur championship is set Aug. 4-10 in Eugene Country Club course in Eugene, Oregon.

Two other Filipino jungolfers earned honors in the San Diego meet, with Bernice Olivarez Ilas finishing second in the girls six-and-under in Colina Park while Miggy Yee settled for third in boys 11-12 at the Lake San Marcos layout.

Those feats highlighted the participation of the Junior Golf Foundation of the Philippines delegation supported by Philippine Airlines as the official carrier, Samsung, Diamond Motors, ICTSI and Crestlink.

Amalia Montecillo, chair of Jungolf, lauded the delegation’a efforts in the event.

“They showed a lot of fighting spirit and we’ve proven something to the world again,” she said

Meanwhile, former national player Regina de Guzman posted a respectable Top 10 finish in the girls 15-17 years division to complete the RP stint at the Carlton Oaks course here.

De Guzman, the Thailand Ladies Amateur champion two years ago, took four consecutive bogeys from the third but was able to recover with a one-under back nine stint for a three-over-par 75 and a 72-hole aggregate of 298.

She earned a share of 10th place with Serena Aoki of Japan and Chirapat Jao-Javanil of Thailand.

Patcharajutar Kongkraphan of Thailand shot a 72-284 to win by three strokes over Danielle Frasier of California (71-287).

Philippine Ladies Open champion Chihiro Ikeda had a dismal 81 and slumped to 24th place with a 304 aggregate.

It was an impressive finish for De Guzman, who lost a lot of training time due to a pinched nerve she suffered while playing in a tournament in Sabah, Malaysia. – With report from Lito A. Tacujan