Fearsome Twosome

STA. ROSA, Laguna — Zach Villaroman and Jakob Taruc came through in the clutch, salvaging an all-square result in the final pairing to help Team North escape with a nerve-wracking 6 1/2-5 1/2 victory over Team South in Thursday’s Foursomes of the ICTSI Elite Junior Finals at The Country Club here.

The tightly-contested match-up capped a rollercoaster Day 2 in this Ryder Cup-style event, showcasing the country’s finest junior golfers. Both sides battled not only each other, but also the weight of expectations and the high-stakes format of alternate shot play.

With the team standings at 14-9 heading into the final match, South’s Eric Jeon and Mhark Fernando III looked poised to deliver a crucial point, taking a 1-up lead to the 18th.

But on the challenging par-4 finishing hole, Fernando’s 3-iron approach into a stiff headwind found the pond, opening the door for Villaroman and Taruc to steal a half-point with a steady par. They delivered, reaching the green in two and two-putting to snatch the tie and hike Team North’s lead, 14 1/2-9 1/2.

The seesaw battle was emblematic of the day’s drama.

While Team North built on its 8-4 Four-ball win from Tuesday to take early control, Team South mounted a fiery comeback, winning key matches late in the day. The tight finishes and bold recoveries made this the most dramatic installment yet in a Finals that continues to defy prediction.

Earlier in the day, North captured six of the first 11 matches, threatening to pull away.

But South clawed back in the boys’ 7-10 division with a clean sweep, while also notching pivotal wins in the 11-14 and 15-18 categories. Ralph Batican and Marcus Dueñas exacted revenge on Vito Sarines and Ryuji Suzuki, 2-up, in boys’ 11-14, while Lucas Revilleza and James Rolida stormed back to edge Halo Pangilinan and Asher Abad, 1-up. Ethan Lago and Kvan Alburo also repeated their dominance with a 2&1 victory over Zach Guico and Zoji Edoc in the youngest age category.

On the girls’ side, South’s 15-18 pairs flexed their experience and chemistry once more. Crista Miñoza and Precious Zaragosa cruised to a 3&2 victory, while Tashanah Balangauan and Mikela Guillermo secured a 4&3 rout — both building on their dominant Four-ball performances a day earlier.

Despite South’s late charge, Team North found strength in its younger divisions.

The girls’ 7-10 duo of Winter Serapio and Ronee Dungca remained untouchable, dispatching Soleil Molde and Denise Mendoza in just two and a half hours with a commanding 7&6 victory. Minutes later, Mavis Espedido and Tyra Garingalao matched the feat against Claren Quiño and Francesca Geroy.

The back-to-back sweeps from Serapio-Dungca and Espedido-Garingala, who also won convincingly on Day 1, gave North critical breathing room heading into Friday’s singles.

“While we considered the players’ personalities when drawing up pairings for team formats, I think we’ll now be focusing on confidence heading into the singles — specifically, who has the mental toughness to go up against the South,” said North captain Francis Talion, who acknowledged that the singles matches present an entirely different battlefield.

“Singles is a different kind of challenge, but the confidence booster we got from our Day 1 win will definitely help build momentum for our players. With that, I believe we can pull this off.”

North also benefited from new pairings in the girls’ 11-14 division, where Mona Sarines and Alexie Gabi edged out Brittany Tamayo and Kimberly Baroquillo, 1-up, and Lisa Sarines and Kendra Garingalao cruised to a 5&4 win over Rafella Batican and Zuri Bagaloyos.