Tambalque, Lee score playoff wins in JPGT finals

MANILA, Philippines — Patrick Tambalque and Korean Ji Won Lee captured the boys’ 13-14 and girls’ 15-18 crowns, respectively, in a pair of sudden deaths highlighting the ICTSI Junior PGT national finals at The Country Club in Laguna yesterday.

Tambalque, who topped the five-round Luzon elims, parred the last three holes to log 49 points under the Modified Stableford (Molave) scoring system from a gross 77 as he forced a playoff with Vis-Min series topnotcher Clement Ordeneza.

Lee, on the other hand, bogeyed the tricky par-3 17th and finished with 50 points from a gross 76, enabling Cagayan de Oro’s Alethea Gaccion, who closed out with three pars, to force a sudden death.

Tambalque and Lee both birdied the playoff hole (No. 10) in overcast skies to lead the eight winners in the 18-hole stroke play finale of the pioneering season-long series put up by ICTSI that featured the drive, chip and putt challenge and 18-hole tournaments.

Joining Tambalque and Lee in the podium are Jared Saban and Quincy Pilac (9-10), Ralph Batican and Precious Zaragosa (11-12), Isabella Tabanas (girls’ 13-14) and Zeus Sara (boys’ 15-18).