Shin lights up familiar Apo course with 66
MICAH Shin displays his familiarity of the Apo Golf and Country Club to fire a 66 and grab the overall lead in the opening round of the ICTSI Apo Golf Classic on Tuesday.
Photograph courtesy of PGT
DAVAO CITY — Micah Shin returned to familiar ground at Apo Golf and Country Club here and made it look like his own playground, carding a 66 to seize the first-round lead in the ICTSI Apo Golf Classic and threaten to turn another Philippine Golf Tour nail-biter into a runaway.
Armed with intimate knowledge of the tight, exacting layout and a game honed by campaigns abroad, Shin made the most of his home-course advantage, stringing together birdies with precision and purpose to establish a commanding cushion over a field loaded with the circuit’s top guns.
He held a three-shot lead over last week’s South Pacific leg winner Clyde Mondilla, who bounced back from a frontside 36 with four birdies, including one on the 18th, against a lone bogey at the back for a 69. A slew of pursuers shared third place with 70s, including Sean Ramos, Russell Bautista, local journeyman Ramil Bisera, Paul Echavez, Jeremy Tandoy, Dino Villanueva and Korean Kim Tae Soo.
The local top guns, who gave Mondilla a spirited challenge at South Pacific, found the Apo layout far more challenging. Jeffren Lumbo, Elee Bisera and James Ryan Lam and American Collin Wheeler matched 71s, while Justin Quiban, Angelo Que and Jhonnel Ababa, stood at joint 14th with amateur Jacob Rolida and Alexander Bisera with identical 72s.
It was only the opening round, but the manner of Shin’s charge hinted at a different script for a tour that has thrived on suspense, late surges and razor-thin margins. Each of the last six tournaments had been decided by just one or two strokes, while the last two editions at Apo went to sudden death.
Shin, however, wasted little time putting daylight between himself and the chasing pack.
“To be honest, I made a lot of easy birdies today, which made scoring well easier. I didn’t miss many fairways. I hit some bad shots, too, but I managed to recover and save par,” said Shin, one of the club invites making the most of his opportunity.
“I’m really thankful to Apo for inviting me to play. I grew up and trained here, so it’s fun to compete on my home course. I’ve moved to Korea, but I still come back whenever I have time to practice.”