Fight for E. Java Open top spot heats up

Fight for E. Java Open top spot heats up

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The second day of the East Java Open golf championship saw the
battle for top spot intensify in Surabaya on Tuesday when six
golfers managed to card under-pars.

Veteran golfer Ilyasyak from Serpong Golf Club in Tangerang,
Banten, who was tied at 30th on Monday, sprang to seventh place
after shooting four birdies and a bogey-free round on Tuesday for
146 (68 79).

Played at the par-72 Yani Golf Club, Indonesia's second oldest
golf layout after the Jakarta Golf Club at Rawamangun, East
Jakarta, the Nangroe Aceh Darussalam-born golfer open the round
with a birdie in the par-5 of the second hole.

He followed with another two birdies in the par-4 of the sixth
and the 547-meter par-5 of the eighth.

Ilyasyak went home with another birdie putt and bogey-free
eight for a one-under 35.

Host golfer Kasiadi, who on Tuesday decided to play with his
old driver instead of the one he used on Monday, was rewarded
when he fired five excellent birdies.

The reap of birdies came from the 8th, 10th, 11th, 16th and
final 18th hole. Kasiadi's birdies feat, however, was marred by
two deficit putts in the 6th and 13th for two bogeys.

Kasiadi rewrote golf history in Indonesia when in 1989 he
became the first host golfer to win the US$100,000 Indonesia Open
at the Jakarta Golf Club.

Overlooked and unrated in a strong field of seasoned pros from
the U.S., Australia and the Philippines, Kasiadi, a caddie for
many years, won the prestigious event when he cantered home with
an 11-under par-269 (66 68 67 68).

Kasiadi's score of 143 (69 74) on Tuesday put him on top after
the second round together with Soewarno K from Surabaya's Bukit
Darmo Golf, who carded a two-day total of identical 143 (71 72).

Third placed at 146 each was shared by four players: Dana
Mahmud from Damai Indah Golf and Country Club (72 74), Ramadhan
Alwie (73 73), Ben Tumbel (76 70) and amateur player Suyanto (74
72).