VICTORIA STATE (AUSTRALIA) GRABS SILVER JUBILEE SERIES

By Ric de Vera
Manila
April 3, 2019

Manila-March 11- 15: The state of Victoria in Australia won the 25^th Fil-Aussie Interstate Friendship golf tournament held for four days in Manila on March 11-15, 2019. The Pinoy Golfers of Melbourne members and friends captained by Hermie Josue garnered just enough points under the ‘nine-to-play’ team scoring method to lead by eight points over its closest rival, the defending champion - NSW. Victoria team was awarded the monumental trophy plus P10,000 cash prize for their fantastic team efforts. “Am so happy that we won this years’ silver jubilee series” said an ecstatic team captain Hermie Josue.

2019 State Champion Victoria team after receiving their monumental trophy & cash prize. Left to right are (seated) Nor Hugo & Dante Mola, (first row) Alex Salariosa, Cally Javier & Dong Gubatanga (second row) Roman Susi, Noel Vitug, Poly Magpantay, Hermie Josue (team captain) & Val Beltran (behind) Pet Rosario, Andy Engo (partly hidden) & Rey

2019 State Runner up New South Wales after receiving their trophy & cash prize. Left to right are (seated first row) Leo Vasilladis Daven Naidu, Joh Baduria & Govin Singh; (seated second row) Martin Beardsley, Jerry Valmeo, Jerome Gaerlan, Cris Abalos, Ross Sandoval, Dexter Tabeta, Arnel Zaguirre & Ric de Vera (coordinator), (standing front) Vikash Deo, Peter Satish, Ray Rodriguez, Dharmend Kumar, Ronnie Zapanta, Sam Akbar, Arnold Villamayor (team captain) Obet Bolina & Dom Pavisa (standing behind) Nick Gonzales, Ome Gaerlan and Kamendra Singh.

Individual over-all champion was Daven Naidu (109 points) from NSW followed by Roman Susi (108 points) from Victoria as runner up. These winners received monumental trophies and cash prizes of P3,000 and P1,000 respectively, for their exceptional efforts.

Individual over-all winners are (L-R holding trophies) Daven Naidu (2^nd from left) as champion (NSW) and Roman Susi (2^nd from right) as runner up (Vic). Others in photo are Ariel Pattugalan (Presentation in-charge from ACT) far left, Charry the entertainer/presenter (middle) and Phonz May (Scoring committee chair from ACT) extreme right.

For the first time in 25 years of this golfing event, a hole-in-one was done by Shane Zhang (a first time participant from ACT) in Hole no 13 of Forest Hills Golf & Country club with 137 yards. He used his nine iron club. He was awarded with special trophy courtesy of Captain Victor del Prado and P2000 cash prize from the coordinator. “Am so excited that for the first time in joining your group, I made a hole-in-one” said Zhang.

Day one winners are (L-R) Rey Sapitola, John Prize and Ray Rodriquez.

Daily winners classified by division and state represented were also awarded with trophies and cash prizes as follows:

Day 1 – Forest Hills Golf & Country Club

Champion: Ray Rodriguez (NSW) for A Div, John Price (ACT) for B Div and Rey Sapitola (Vic) for C Div.

Runners up: Sam Akbar (NSW) for A Div, Jun dela Pena (NSW) for B Div and Renato de Leon (NSW) for C Div.

Day 2 – Splendido Golf & Country Club

Champion: Aswin Kumar (ACT) for A Div, Arnold Villamayor (NSW) for B Div and Rey Sapitola (Vic) for C Div.

Runners Up: Peter Orton (ACT) for A Div, Hermie Josue (Vic) for Div B Div and Jerome Gaerlan (NSW) For C Div

Day 3 – Riviera Golf & Country Club

Champion: Hermie Josue (Vic) for A Div, Dharmend Kumar (NSW) for B Div and Joey Mercado (NSW) for C Div.

Runners Up: Leo Vasilladis (NSW) for A Div, Alex Salariosa (Vic) for B Div and Cally Javier (Vic) for C Div.

Day 4 – Canlubang Golf & Country Club

Champion: Roman Susi (Vic) for A Div, Phonz May (ACT) for B Div and Rene de Leon (NSW) for C Div.

Runners Up: Ashwin Kumar (ACT) for A Div, Sam Akbar (NSW) for B Div and Daven Naidu (NSW) for C Div.

Day two winners are (L-R) Ashwin Kumar, Arnold Villamayor and Rey Sapitola

Hole-in-one winner Shane Zhang after receiving his special trophy from Ric de Vera, the coordinator. Looking from behind is Charry the entertainer/guest presenter.

The Fil-Aussie Interstate Friendship golf cup which is now composed of around 100 golfers coming from all over states and territories in Australia has been held in Manila annually for the past fifteen (15) years. The venues were carefully selected four (4) championship and privately owned golf courses. For the first time the group played at Forest Hills (Nicklaus course), Splendido, Riviera (Langer course) and Canlubang Golf & Country club – South course.

Day three winners are (L-R holding trophies) Hermie Josue, Dharmend Kumar and Joey Mercado (represented by Ome Gaerlan). At far left is Charry, the entertainer/guest presenter.

Day four winners are (L-R holding trophies) Roman Susi, Phonz May and Rene de Leon. At far left are Ariel Patttugalan (Presentation in-charge) and Charry, the entertainer/guest presenter.

All Fil-Aussie golfers together with their friends and associates are invited to join again next year’s 26^th series of this golf tournament which is now considered the biggest ever golfing event in Manila by golfers coming from all over Australia. For more information, you may call Ric de Vera on 0416-466-351 or email at . Please check our FB named Fil-Aussie Interstate Friendship Golf.

Ric de Vera
Sydney, Australia
Monday 8th of April 2019

Day 2 winners photo caption correction: L-R are Lalen Sharma (ACT) for A Div, Arnold Villamayor (NSW) for B Div and Noel Vitug (Vic) for C Div. Apologies!