CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Zamboanga Golf completed a come-from-behind victory in the Aviator division following the sensational 36 points of team captain Eldon Elumba in the final round of the 75th Philippine Airlines Men’s Interclub golf team championships at the Pueblo de Oro Golf and Country on Monday.
Elumba, a 32-year-old lawyer, bucked a pickup on the 15th hole to score the best score in the division, powering Zamboanga Golf to a six-point win over Pueblo de Oro Team 2 and Team IMG-Tagaytay Midlands.
Zamboanga Golf, also drawing 26 from Andre Lim and 20 from Reymond Moises, pooled 82 points for 323 overall.
It was a big comeback for Zamboanga which trailed Camp Aguinaldo by 14 points after the first round at Pueblo on Friday.
Zamboanga rallied in the next two rounds at Del Monte to start the day only two points behind overnight leader Camp Aguinaldo.
“We stayed focused and patient,” said Elumba whose final round output was his best since he began competing in the Interclub in 2008.
The victory, its first, completed a rare sweep for Zamboanga which also clinched the Aviator class in the senior division last week.
Pueblo de Oro made a big charge behind a pair of 29s by Bing Espinosa and Martin Lu to score 84 points and tie Tagaytay Midlands with 317 points apiece. Pueblo’s third scorer was Roland Minoza.
Tagaytay Midlands was led by RJ Rizada and Yancy Siladan who shot identical 26 points with Bong de Silva adding 24.
Camp Aguinaldo, which got 29 points from Zaldy Villa, settled for fourth place.
In the Sportswriters bracket, San Juanico Golf Park & Country Club hung on to a one-point win over West Highlands and Golf Club of Butuan.
San Juanico, playing with only three men, carded 63 to finish on 272. Scoring for the team were Don Vicente Mate (24), Edson Malaki (20), and Jude Bakunawa (19).
West Highlands came through with 64 behind Anthony Asuncion (26), Alex Trinos (22), and Karl Tagunayon (16).
Third was South Cotabato with 262 points.
The 75th staging of the PAL Interclub is supported by diamond sponsors Mastercard and Asian Journal.
Platinum sponsors include Airbus, Primax Broadcasting Network and Araw Hospitality while gold sponsors are Tanduay and Asia Brewery.
Joining the event as silver sponsors are ABS-CBN Global, Radio Mindanao Network and Philippine National Bank.
VISA is a minor sponsor while Must Glow is joining as a donor.
