Jeff Labrador is 2009 Player of the Year; Samlo wins Match Play
The Filam Golfers Association (FAGA) concluded their final outing of the season with the Match Play finals at Pine Ridge in Coram, NY which saw Samantha Lopez-Edwards edge out George Javier, 5 and 4.
It was a defining moment for Lopez-Edwards, who shot a gross 87 (net 61) and in the process also bagged the final major trophy of the year – Champion of Champions.
“This is all I’ve ever wanted – to be the best match player this season,” Lopez-Edwards said. “George is a great player and he gave all his best. But I guess I am the lucky one today,” she continued.
Team Orange Wins Team Championships
Team Orange, composed of George Javier, Ricky Camacho, Nick Salubayba and team captain Cesar Echavez, won the 2009 Team Championships at the torturous Grand Cascades in Hamburg, NJ with a stableford aggregate score of 63 points beating Team Green by one point.
Team Green - Efraim Carballo, Jerry Pabalan, Joey Bote and Lito Mijaro - led the team scoring until the last flight came in and Echavez posted the winning margin for Team Orange.
Team Black with Noel Blumenau, Nelson Perez, Eric Ciar and Lito Rabino took third with 55 points.
At the match play semi-finals, Samantha Lopez beat Joey Bote in the last hole with a 10-foot putt to barge into the finals for a showdown with George Javier who handily beat Dr. Edgar Lerias.
 Team Orange - from left: Ricky Camacho, Cesar Echavez, Nick Salubayba & George Javier. |
Samantha Lopez-Edwards Wins FAGA Open; Ross Ola Takes Seniors
Inspite of penalizing herself one stroke when she accidentally moved her ball before putting, Samantha Lopez wins the FAGA Open by a single stroke over Nilo Pascual with a net 65 at Beaver Brook.
Lopez also took care of business in the second round of match play by beating Dr. Sam Bangug - 6 and 5.
Ross Ola took the Senior Open honors shooting a net 65 with a lot of room spare beating his closest rivals by 4 strokes.
Willy Libid Wins FAGA Masters
For a brief moment, Willy Libid never thought that a major trophy was on the line. He was just thinking about the task at hand - that is to beat his opponent in the first round of the Match Play.
Not only did he handily beat Tonette David, he won the FAGA Masters by a single stroke over earstwhile leader Danny Velasquez, who struggled mightily with his driver until it was too late to salvage his game. Libid's net score of 201 in three outings bested the field composed of Velasquez (202), Samantha Edwards (204), Nick Salubayba (206) and Jeff Labrador (206).
The tall fescues did a lot of damage yesterday and the high winds only exacerbated the matter even for the best all-weather players. All four monster par-3's made every golfer cringe on their seat, even with a BMW 650Ci hole-in-one prize on the 172 yard #6 up for grabs.
FAGA is now on Twitter!
Robin Williams on golf
Efraim Carballo Wins President's Cup
Efraim Carballo shot a net 63 (gross 79) to overtake Dr. Edgar Lerias and Samantha Edwards for the President's Cup title. Carballo, a new member whose shot-making skills got the attention of the clubs's top players, shot nines of 39 and 40 at the Quarry/Rail courses of Great Gorge Golf & CC.
Unpredictable greens did nothing to deter Carballo from taking the Cup which was within an earshot of being grabbed by either Edwards or Lerias, whose first round net scores were 65 and 67, respectively.
