DOTTIE Ardina outlasted teammate Princess Superal in a thrilling duel on the back nine, carding a closing 70 for a one-stroke victory on Friday in the True Visions International Junior Golf Championship in Bangkok.
Superal entered the final round as the leader but Ardina, her teammate at ICTSI-The Country Club, fired a pair of early birdies to draw level before hitting another birdie on the 17th to seize the Class A crown with a 277 total.
On the boys’ side, Rupert Zaragosa fired a four-under 68 for an impressive eight-under 280 as he thumped Thai Sarit Suwannarut by eight to cap the Philippines’ domination of the event.
Suwannarut had a 288 after a 74.
Superal, 16, struggled with a 73 and settled for second at 278, while Taiwanese Yi Ching Wu took third place with a 282 after a 68.
Ardina birdied Nos. 5 and 6 to catch up with Superal, surged ahead after the latter bogeyed No. 9 only to fall into a tie again with a Superal birdie on the 11th.
She fell behind again with a missed-green bogey on the 14th, but drew level again after Superal bogeyed the 15th. After both players made par on the 16th, Ardina went one-up again with a six-foot birdie putt on the 17th which Superal failed to match, then clinched the victory with a routine par on the tough finishing hole.
“It could have gone either way. But I made a clutch putt on the 17th,” said Ardina, who picked up another win after dominating the WWWExpress-DHL Open back home last month and winning the Thailand Ladies Open 18-20 age group title last week.
Team Philippines also stamped its class in team play as Ardina, Superal and male teammates Zaragosa and Raymart Tolentino pooled an 835 to beat Thailand (859) and Taiwan (870) in Class A while Sofia Chabon, Harmie Constantino, Chan Aidric Baldona and Ira Alido assembled a 643 to capture the Class C crown, defeating Thailand 2 (650) and Thailand 1 (682).
Abby Arevalo carded a 76 and ended up fourth in Class B with a 298, 11 shots behind Thai Paphangkorn Tavatanakit, who had a 287 after a 69.
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