Golf: Solomon Gines leads crowd of hopefuls at PGT Qualifier

Solomon Gines bucked consecutive bogeys on the 10th and 11th holes with a birdie on the 18th to wind up with an even par 72 and grab a one-shot advantage over Jomar Pepito and Banny Abaño in the first round of the Philippine Golf Tour (PGT) Qualifying Tournament at the Tat Filipinas in San Pedro, Laguna.   Gines, a former national team member, is gunning for one of the 20 cards at stake in this year’s ICTSI-Philippine Golf Tour season, which was kicked off by the P4.5-million The Country Club Invitational, won by Asian Tour No. 1 player Juvic Pagunsan, held in January at The Country Club in Canlubang.                 Pepito had a 36-37 slate that tied him with Abaño, a player from Del Monte, who missed being on top with Gines after he bogeyed number 16. A stroke back on 74 was Dino Villanueva, while national mainstays Clyde Mondilla and Art Arbole found themselves with Arnie Fernando and Jesselito Saragoza with 75 each.                 Still in contention for the 20 slots were Sonny Villaber, Dan Cruz, Enrico Opinion, Danny delos Santos, Jett Plete and John Salvador, all with a 78, and the 79 apiece of Angelo Anzuris and Andy Bartolome.    Former junior amateur champion Ramon Brobio leads seven others on 80.                 A total of 71 players, including 60 pros and 11 amateurs, are chasing the top 20 spots for this year’s pro circuit set to fire off on March 15 at Splendido.  The field includes touring pros who failed to make the Top 60 of the 2011 PGT Order of Merit ranking.   Under the PGT Eligibility Category 4, players who make the Top 20 get to play the full schedule of the ICTSI-PGT, which boasts of 16 events.  Only players with 152 or better after 36 holes will advance to the final round where they will be ranked according to their scores. - AMD, GMA News