Wabol fails to make cut in RP Amateur

Jess “Mr. Unorthodox” Wabol was conventional by his standards in last week’s 2008 Philippine Amateur Golf Championship after he missed the cut by eight strokes.

Playing at the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club in Bacolod City, Philippines, the former Oleai Elementary School principal shot a woeful seven-over par 82 in the first round last May 28.

Wabol, who was representing Laolao Bay Golf Resort in the tournament, fired a 38 in the front nine before limping back to the clubhouse with a miserable 44 in the back nine.

Needing a 71 or better to qualify for the final two rounds of the Championships, Wabol started out fine with an even-par 36. He, however, shot himself on the foot with a disastrous seven-over par 43 in the back nine to kiss his chances goodbye for a back-door entry to the final two rounds.

In the end, Wabol finished with a 161 to finish tied in 66th and 67th places.

Ferdie Aunzo won the 2008 Philippine Amateur Golf Championship last Sunday after overwhelming J.R. Tanpinco in their marathon 36-hole duel by cruising to a 5 & 4 victory.

The win capped Aunzo’s whirlwind three-week campaign, as he won the Karambunai Open and the Sabah Amateur Open in Malaysia earlier in May.

In the 2008 Philippine Amateur Golf Championship, he shook off Tanpinco’s early challenge by taking three of the last five holes at the back to go four-up in their morning matchup.

He then endured the 30-minute weather delay shortly after the resumption of play before coasting to the victory, capping a great four weeks of competitive golf that netted two victories abroad plus the 2008 Philippine Amateur Golf Championship.

But according to the National Golf Association of the Philippines’ website, the 2008 Philippine Amateur Golf Championship was the sweetest of the three because he beat the cream of the crop, fashioning out the win after five grueling days of top-level golf, that included two rounds of stroke play eliminations which he topped before beating two rivals in each of the next three days of match play.

Tanpinco, leaning on sheer guts in the absence of solid preparation in a tournament of this magnitude after arriving only last week following a 16-month study in San Diego, California, didn’t fare well either in the afternoon match, falling farther behind by five holes after six holes before birdying the par-four No. 7 to get to within four again.

But that was the closest he would come to Aunzo’s lead, as the newly minted 2008 Philippine Amateur Golf champion waltzed his way to victory with an amazing display of shot-making in the homestretch.