Eastridge firms up hold of PAL lead

BACOLOD, Philippines — With three aces carding one-over-par 71s worth 35 points each, Eastridge-Primehomes tallied 105 yesterday at tricky Bacolod Golf Club (formerly Binitin) in the 76th Philippine Airlines (PAL) Interclub Men’s Championship division tournament.

At the day’s end, Eastridge-Primehomes held a 12-point lead with powerhouse Manila Southwoods, in a big surprise, skidding to third spot.

Jeff Lumbo, Alex Bisera and Ronel Taga-an formed a three-sided blade that Eastridge used to build a huge gap heading into the final two rounds of what is considered as the country’s unofficial team golf championship.

The Binangonan-based club will carry a 204 aggregate into the third round also at Binitin.

But non-playing skipper and club general manager Gimo Asuncion is not about to fall into a trap of going all out in round three, as he was still deep in talks with team members after their sterling effort to prepare rosters that will see action in the final two days.

“It’s always good to be leading,” Asuncion said. “But we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We would want to come out with balanced lineups for the last two rounds. We will stick to the game plan that we came here with.”