Saipan Tribune

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Babauta earns back-to-back CWGA Ace honors

Lorraine Babauta nabbed her second consecutive CNMI Women's Golf Association Ace of the Month plum after topping the October tournament held early this month at Laolao Bay Golf Resort.

Babauta, who bested a 17-player September field to win last month's event, mustered out another triumph over 11 other competitors just five weeks later. Since she already qualified for CWGA's season-ending Ace of Aces tournament with her initial win, Babauta took the points and added 15 to her total. An update to the current point standings will be released next month.

Babauta managed a stable position at the start as her 46 on the front nine of Laolao's west course left her tied at the turn with eventual runner-up Yuko Togawa, Mio Kim, and Sun Suk Kim, as all four trailed pack leader Shiori Onoue by a stroke.

Babauta kept chomping at the bit and worked out a raw 44 on the back side for a gross 90 that adjusted into an even 80 net score after deducting her handicap, and she went on to nose out Togawa in the end by a stroke.

Togawa did all she could and finished the latter half of her round with an even 40, but her 5 handicap fell just short of victory. Third place went to Kyung Ran Seo, who scratched a pair of raw 50s that worked into an 81 net.

Togawa earned 14 points and Seo got 13, while Masayo Miyamoto (48 and 44), who came out with an 82 net, finished fourth and earned 12 points.

Notably, Onoue finished the back with a 44 for a net 84 and settled for fifth place (11 points), while Mio Kim had a 50 on the back and also netted an 84, but fell to seventh place (9 points). Suk Kim faded at the finish with another 46 on the back for a net 86 that dropped her to 11th place (1 point).

The other monthly Aces include May's Noriko Togawa (84 net/10 points), who finished the past round in between Onoue and Mio Kim; June's Xiao Lin Wang; July's Sherlyln Jones (84-net/8 points); and August's Me Ae Jeon. Other results from this month include Gil Ah Kim (84-net/7 points), Lou Kim (85-net/6 points) and Kimoko Abe (87-net/1 point).

Meanwhile, CWGA's November Ace is scheduled on Nov. 10, also at Laolao.

Established in 2007, the CWGA is a non-profit organization founded to promote, encourage, and introduce women to the sport of golf in the CNMI. The CWGA utilizes a standard net scoring format, where a predetermined point system is tallied during the season.

First place is awarded 15 points, in addition to a bid into the Ace of Aces finale tournament, while 14 points are awarded to second place and so on down through the Top 10 finishers with the remaining participants allotted one point.

For more information, contact Terry Guerrero at 285-8374, Bennet Seman at 483-0126, Yuko Togawa at 287-9856 or Delores Yamagishi at 483-3195.