Quintanilla trails match play qualifying leaders by one

Grace Quintanilla opened up with a level-par 72 on Tuesday as the reigning ladies’ Singapore Amateur Open champion trailed joint leaders Mona Sarines and Ally Gaccion by a shot after the first of two rounds to determine the participants of the NGAP’s National Match Play Championship.

This is the first tournament that Quintanilla is playing in more than two weeks after reigning supreme at the Bukit course in Singapore, where she beat Xizihan Wang of Hong Kong-China in five holes of sudden death, even as Rolando Bregente took a one-shot lead over double-seeking Jet Hernandez in men’s play after firing a 67.

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Sarines and Gaccion are setting the pace as only eight players will advance to the first round of the KO stage, with 16 marching on in the men’s, making the second round to be played at the tree-lined layout inside a vast sugar plantation very interesting with only five shots separating those occupying sixth to 24th spots.

Hernandez, the 21-year-old University of Denver standout, has made it no secret that he will try to chase down this title. He won the Strokeplay Championship last week, sharing the stage with ladies champ Lisa Sarines, by a whopping 22 strokes over Bregente and Chris Remata.

He admits being really excited coming to Luisita, a traditional layout where he has a lot of fond memories.

“This is where you can call my breakthrough happened,” Hernandez told the Inquirer. “I qualified for my first national team [inclusion] here and got to play in my first SEA (Southeast Asian) Games in 2022. Definitely good memories here.”

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Shinichi Suzuki, who has also returned to local play after campaigning in the United States Am, is in third with Emilio Hernandez after both shot 71s, with Patrick Tambalque accounting for a 72 to be in fifth.

A four-man group led by Jed Y fired 73s, with Zach Villaroman and Mark Fernando III, sons of former champions of the PH Am, on the bubble after shooting a 75 and 77, respectively.

The KO matches will be held starting on Thursday, with the men survivors playing all the way until Saturday where final matches in both divisions will be over 36 holes.

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Winners of the men’s round-of-16 matches on Thursday in the morning will play their quarterfinal matches in the afternoon. Semifinals of both divisions will be played on Friday morning. INQ