Ateneo Three-Peats Over La Salle in Golf Classic

Not unlike the intense rivalry in the recent UAAP basketball finals, Ateneo and La Salle alumni and students alike battled it out in the North and South Courses of the Canlubang Golf and Country Club last November 21 for bragging rights on the fairways. However, unlike the UAAP finals where the Ateneo Blue Eagles swept the La Salle Green Archers, competition last Friday was so tight among the almost 200 participants that it took some time for the results to be announced later that day. And because the final tally was very close, the organizers decided to create an audit committee to revalidate the results immediately after.

Finally, Ateneo parbusters prevailed over their Lasallian counterparts with a score of 42 – 40 which is one of the closest in the 21 years that the Ateneo – La Salle Golf Classic has been played. There was only one instance during the early years of this annual duel that the tournament ended in a tie. This is the third year in a row that Ateneo has won.

The individual winners were: Championship division, Jun Jun Plana – low gross and Marty Ilagan – net champion both from Ateneo; Class A, Iñigo Raymundo (Ateneo) and Jonar Austria (La Salle); Class B, Romeo Pangilinan and John Fuentes both from La Salle; Class C, Monsour Del Rosario (La Salle) and Greg Cancio (Ateneo); Class D, Andy Dumlao (Ateneo); Ladies, Lora Roberto (La Salle) and Hedy See (Ateneo); Seniors, Tommy Manotoc (La Salle) and Nelson Leung (Ateneo); Open, Jeffrey Bernaldez and Freddie Salinda both from Ateneo.

The highlight of the event however was the exemplary honesty displayed by players from both sides who volunteered to disqualify themselves although they had been declared winners. As one alumnus put it “despite the need for results in some of the classifications to be retabulated, standings reshuffled, points reallocated which led to trophies being recalled to be later on awarded to the eventual winners, the honesty and sportsmanship displayed certainly made both schools winners.”

The event was enthusiastically supported by several corporate sponsors and partners. Among Team La Salle’s sponsors are: Animo Magazine, Canlubang Golf & Country Club, Cebu Pacific, Hidden Valley Springs, Johnnie Walker, M. E. Dimaculangan Construction, Microtel Inns & Suites, Pioneer Insurance, Sherwood Hills Golf Club, Solar Entertainment, Wall Street Journal Asia, Boracay 3-5-7 Hotel, Pisanti Golf. Also contributing immensely to its success were the registration centers of: DLSAA, DLS-College of St. Benilde, DLS Zobel, La Salle Green Hills and DLSU Office of Sports Development.