BACOLOD CITY — Sarah Ababa hit all fairways and 14 greens on her way to a one-under-par 69 and the solo lead in the ICTSI Negros Occidental Golf Classic presented by MORE Power at the Marapara course on Wednesday.

Ababa, whose last win came in 2015, made two birdies against a single bogey to open a four-shot lead over Chanelle Avaricio, Harmie Constantino and Daniella Uy.

“I’ll just stay patient. Mahirap basahin ang greens, you need to match the speed and allowance,” said Ababa who practiced at South Pacific Golf and Leisure Club in Davao and Orchard Golf and Country Club in Cavite.

Avaricio, the winner of three LPGT legs last year, kept Ababa within sight in a separate flight but double-bogeyed the par-4 17th.

“Mostly, everything was tough — hangin and the greens — and had unlucky bounces on the fairways,” said Avaricio. “I’ll try to keep my drives on the fairway and my iron shots just around the green for easy up-and-down tomorrow.”

Constantino, the inaugural ICTSI Match Play Invitational champion, bogeyed 16 and 18 while Uy dropped a shot on the final hole to end up with the same score as Avaricio.
Despite her bogey finish, Uy is not sulking.

“My round today is better than I expected because the course is narrow and playing long. But I hope to hit the fairways and make a lot of putts tomorrow and just be calm and try not to be too excited,” she said.

Top amateur Rianne Malixi, meanwhile, groped for form in her first foray at Marapara, going four-over after three holes for a 78, her worst round this season.

“My challenge was I couldn’t execute the shots that I wanted to hit and I missed spots that I was not supposed to miss. Those gave me a hard time to recover and kind of like scramble for par,” rued the 16-year-old ace.

“But then I think I made good the last two holes. I started like really rough, 4-over after three holes and 6-over going to No. 8. Nakuha ko naman sa last two holes, so hopefully, I’ll bring that tomorrow. Pag-iisipan ko ang game-plan ko but I’ll change some of my strategies.”

Also posting 78s were Chihiro Ikeda and Marvi Monsalve.

Meanwhile, Florence Bisera and Pamela Mariano shared fifth place on 75s, amateur Laurea Duque and Gretchen Villacencio both carded 76s, and Sunshine Baraquiel and Rev Alcantara matched 77s.
Mia Piccio and Cyna Rodriquez sputtered with 80 and 89, respectively, while amateur Mafy Singson limped with an 81.