CAGAYAN DE ORO – Defending champion Anya Tanpinco sizzled with an eagle and four birdies to buck a closing bogey as she shot 59 points under the Molave scoring system for a two-point lead over Korean Crystal Shin at the start of the Southern Ladies Amateur Golf Championship here yesterday.
The power-hitting Tanpinco, seeking a second straight championship in the annual event, frolicked on the up-and-down 5003-yard Pueblo de Oro Golf and Country Club, reaching the par-4 No. 12 on her drive and sinking an eagle-putt from 20 feet.
“I’m playing pretty solid and I feel confident of my chances here,” said Tanpinco, also the reigning back-to-back national champion who is coming off a joint eighth place finish in the recent The Country Club Invitational.
But the top ICTSI team mainstay, who carded a five-under par 67 in stroke play worth 59 points, had to watch Shin take a two-stroke penalty to seize the solo lead in the 54-hole tournament conducted by the National Golf Association of the Phils. and hosted by Pueblo de Oro.
Shin, a two-time champion from Del Monte now playing for the host club, took a two-stroke penalty for riding in a cart with her father on No. 4, a violation of tournament rules although the NGAP provides the cart for the players on Nos. 7 and 13 to speed up play.
Shin, 16, made a 7 on No. 4 but flashed some kind of resiliency with a solid backside score of 32, closing out with back-to-back birdies for a 69 worth 57 points.
Tanpinco, who made the turn at three-under with birdies on Nos. 3, 5 and 7 inside five feet, banged in another birdie on No. 17 to go six-under but made an errant drive on the 18th and failed to salvage a par from six feet for her lone bogey mishap in the day.
Earlier, Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Constantino Jaraula, Alice Ll. Andrada, NGAP director and chair of the ladies committee, and club president Rudy Menes hit the ceremonial drive kicking off the event, sponsored by WWWExpress-DHL (trophies), Hans Brumann, DPC Yellow Pages, Koresco Hotel (official hotel), Oroport Cargo Handling Services, PARASAT Cable TV, Four S Agritrade, the Philippine Sports Commission and hole-in-one sponsors Mizuno, EMCOR and Lechon Manok ni San Pedro.
Apple Fudolin of Del Monte matched par 72 and stood in third with 54 points while reigning RP Ladies Open champion Louise Manalo and Chihiro Ikeda struggled on the slow putting surface and made identical 53 points in a tie with fellow ICTSI bet Sarah Ababa and Del Monte’s Eva Minoza, Lovelyn Guioguio and Kristine Leonen.