Golf: Kelly Tan tops Sabah Amateur Open, Filipina Superal second on tie-breakers

KOTA KINABALU — Princess Mary Superal emerged as the surprise runner-up after beating two others via count-back in the Sabah Amateur Open Golf Championship topped by Kelly Tan at the scenic course of the Sabah Golf Club.   Superal, the ICTSI bet who won the Montecillo Cup in March, scored her second straight even par 72 to finish on 219, but she had to wait for the organizer’s decision on the tie-breaker over Jayvie Agojo and Malaysian Aretha Pan.   With a better last nine, Superal was declared the next best player from Tan, a Pendleton School student in the US who romped away with the title by six strokes as she wound up with a 213 total after a two-under 70 in the finale.   Dottie Ardina, who is gearing up for her Queen Sirikit Cup crown defense, made a three-over 75 while first day leader Sunshine Baraquiel slowed down with a five-over 77 for matching 222s.   It was a sorry stint for Baraquiel who showed promise early on.  She grabbed the lead on Day One, was down by just two off Tan, then bombed out with that 77.   Lovelyn Guioguio didn’t make the cut of seven over after she hauled in an 11-over 155 after an 82 because of unimpressive putting.   Up next for Guioguio, Agojo, Baraquiel and Ardina is the Philippine Amateur Closed Championship, slated for the windy Jack Nicklaus layout of the Sherwood Hills Golf Club in Trece Martirez, Cavite beginning on Wednesday.   The tourney, the third leg of the circuit by the National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP), will feature medal play in the first two days before shifting to match competition on Friday.   It will mark the first time that Sherwood Hills, voted as the No. 1 Asian golf course by Golf Digest in 2008, will host a major amateur tilt, much to the delight of its president Atty. Harrison M. Paltongan.   “This is long overdue.  We’ve had several pro events of the ICTSI-PH Golf Tour, so why not a premiere championship for the country’s top amateurs?  Sherwood Hills is always ready to host,” Paltongan said. - AMD, GMA News