Ferraz, Palon are Fil-Taga Ace winners for July

Former president Rey Ferraz and newcomer Sandy Palon ruled the greens and fairways of last Sunday’s Fil-Taga Golfers Association July Ace of the Month Tournament held at the Kingfisher Golf Links.

Ferraz won the A Flight besting seven of the nine players in the division after firing a net score of three-under 69.

Lito Mendoza finished second to Ferraz at two shots back with his one-under 71. Jess Yumul, meanwhile, cornered the third spot in the tournament after coming up with a one-over 73.

Yumul finished with the same score as Mike Cruz but captured third place because of his superior numbers in the scorecard tiebreak. Aqua Resort Club’s Ted Malaran closed out the month’s top five with his two-over 75.

The rest of the players in A Flight, with their scores in parenthesis, are as follows: Douglas Puckett (79); Jess Aldan (80); and Ralph Yumul (82).

Last month’s Ace winner Joe Miranda actually had the day’s best score with his six-under 66. But association rules outlaw players winning more than one Ace of the Month tourney in a year.

Palon, meanwhile, topped a tough 17-man field in B Flight after swinging a net score of one-under 71, a mere month after joining Fil-Taga.

Domingo Cariaso was hot in his heels but settled for runner-up honors with his par 72, while last month’s B Flight champ Father Manny Corcuera beat three other golfers in yet another scoreboard tiebreak to finish third in the division.

Corcuera, tournament director Jun “Tiger” Dela Cruz, Mike Lamoureux, and Mike Sablan each finished with identical net scores of 74.

The rest of the players in B Flight, with their scores in parenthesis, are as follows: Greg De Torres (75); Nestor Siruelo (78), Manny Po (84); KJ Semikian (85); Don Dolenec (86); Jin Hee Birkins (99); Puy Macario (102); Ed Birkins (104); Ernie Lopez (108); Joseph Billoti (113); and Nono Bostre (113).

The two Birkins, Macario, Lopez, Billoti, and Boster are all new members and still haven’t been assigned handicaps.

Winners of the monthly tournament in the A and B flights automatically qualify for the Fil-Taga Golfer of the Year Tournament.

Ralph Yumul and his father Jess were the first two qualifiers for the 2004 yearend tournament.

Ralph won the January ace of the month title, while Jess was the champion in February. William Retardo and Ted Malaran bagged the championships of the A and B Flights in March, respectively.

The April champions were Harry Kang and Glenna Palacios, while May winners were Albert Pajarillaga and Nestor Siruelo.

Joe Miranda and Father Manny Corcuera were last month’s Ace of the Month winners after topping the field in Fil-Taga’s 106th Philippine Independence Day Tournament.

Established in 1993, Fil-Taga’s tournaments operate under a computer-controlled handicap system that creates parity among players in the A and B Flights.

A Fil-Taga Ace of the Month champion is crowned monthly. Regular tournaments are scheduled once a month, normally every third Sunday. Green fees are in the $35 to $40 price range for most tournaments.