Mark Dy bags CCC championship
Mark Anthony Dy made a longtime dream come true last weekend by bagging the crown in the annual club and Class Championships of Cebu Country Club.
Dy, a business man and former professional golfer, reverted to amateur status on January 1, 2015 after waiting for eight months for his application to be approved.
He defeated up and coming Julius Pierre Neri in their 36-hole finale, 4-up with two holes to go.
Dy, who made it the matchplay stage after finishing second in the qualifying, stopped lawyer Raymond Garcia in the round of 16, 4 and 3. In the quarterfinals he topped another expro, Carl Almario, who also has a string of club championships under his belt, 1-up.
In the semifinals, Dy outclassed 11th – ranked Marc Gonzales, 5 and 3.
The ninth-ranked Neri made his finals trip starting with beating Kiyofumi Takahashi 2 and 1 in the round of 16. He then beat many-time champion and former club president Montito Garcia, 2-up before disposing of fellow teenager Gen Nagai in the semis, 2 and 1.
Dy told www.fullpointcebu.com, “I’m very happy that I finally got the monkey off my back. Hopefully there would be more to come in the future.”
He said that it was the second time that he made it to the championship match. The first time was 15 years ago when he was only 18 losing to Eric Deen, 1-down after 36 holes.
“This time, I am 33 and Pio (Neri) just turned 19,” The very unassuming Dy added.
In class B, Frederic Chiongbian stopped topseed Edito ‘Nonoy’ Tirol in their final match, 3 and 2.
Chiongbian, who qualified second, beat Ace Serafin, 4 and 3 in the quarterfinals then outclassed Jude Cimafranca 6 and 5 in the semis.
In class C, Andrew Si squeaked past Hector Almario, 1-up to bag the crown. Si, who qualified fourth, had a walkover against Bebot Baldemor in the quarterfinals then pulled past Mamuro Ito in the semis, 1-up after an extra hole.
Cesar Libi ran roughshod over Junichi Kanda in class D to win the title, 5 and 3. Libi drew a bye in the quarterfinals then slipped past Allan Chiongbian, 1-up in the semis.
Montito Garcia may have lost in the quarterfinals of the club championships, but he was the top in the seniors’ division nicking Kim Kwang Seok, 1-up after 19 holes in their championship match.
Garcia outplayed his quarterfinals and semis opponents, George Hong (5 and 3) and Koichi Horii (8 and 7) to earn a trip to the finals.
The super seniors (70-year-old and above) title went to Masatsugu Ochiai, who beat Ray Gibbs in the final match, 4 and 3.
QUALIFYING WINNERS
Winners were also declared for the qualifying tournament.
Montito Garcia bagged the overall lowest gross plum with a 36-hole total of 150 strokes on rounds of 76 and 74.
The lowest net award went to Rogelio del Prado with eight-under-par 136 on rounds of 69 and 67. He won the title after beating club president Edward Go and Bebot Baldemor in the countback.
Junior golfer Peter Tyler Po topped class A with 139 strokes (69-70) while runner-up honors went to Mark Dy with 143 (74-69).
The class B title went to Frederic Chiongbian with 137 (68-69) edging Thomas Castillo in the countback. Castillo settled for the runner-up honors.
Baldemor settled for the class C title with a net score of 136 (67-69) and runner-up honors went to Eric Borja with 137 (71-66).
Junichi Kanda won the class D title with 139 (75-64) and runner-up honors went to Cesar Libi with 145 (72-73).
Edward Go topped the seniors’ (55 to 69 years old) division with 136 (70-66) while runner-up honors went to Alvin Tan Unjo with 137 (68-69).
Lawyer Julius Neri, Sr. won the super seniors crown with 140 (72-68) and runner-up honors went to Masatsugu Ochiai with 142 (73-69).