PHILIPPINE team member Rolando Bregente Jr. ruled the inaugural National Collegiate Athletic Association golf tournament presented by the Philippine Sports Commission on Wednesday with a one-over-par 73 at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club’s West Course.
The 24-year-old Lyceum of the Philippines University standout, who first swung a club at age eight while his father worked as a caddie at Del Monte Golf and Country Club, hit five birdies.
Bregente, who placed fifth in the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand last year, won by one stroke over Zach Villaroman of guest team University of Asia and the Pacific, while College of St. Benilde’s Sean Granada wound up third with a 75.
‘This is the first NCAA golf tournament, so I promised myself to give my best. My name will be in the record books as the first to win it,’ said Bregente, who counts Philippine golf icon Frankie Minoza as his inspiration.
PSC Chairman Patrick Gregorio hailed the NCAA golf tournament as a breakthrough in grassroots sports, saying it aligns with the PSC’s newly launched Fairways to the Future program along with the National Golf Association of the Philippines (NGAP).
Gregorio said the NCAA golf tournament and the Fairways to the Future initiative are now closely linked, helping open pathways for junior golfers nationwide.
By designating government-owned and partner courses as training grounds, the PSC and NGAP have fused grassroots access with elite competition, ensuring that the NCAA fairways serve not only as a proving ground for student-athletes but also as a national pipeline for the next generation of champions.
‘The PSC golf grassroots roadmap is clear. We cannot just create a grassroots program without having tournaments, and this is where collegiate leagues such as the NCAA come in,’ said Gregorio, emphasizing the PSC’s push to add golf, weightlifting, boxing, and gymnastics to the NCAA calendar for the first time in its century-long history.
‘I am deeply grateful to the NCAA for answering the call and staging a golf tournament as well as three other sports for the first time in over a century right here in Season 101,’ Gregorio said.
College of St. Benilde stormed to victory in the team event, amassing 115 points behind Sean Granada’s blazing lead, reinforced by the steady contributions of Miguel Aguilar, Nathan Jasper Lee, Isaac Ong, Christian Adrineda, and Andrei Lee.
Lyceum placed second with 101 points, drawing crucial backup from teammates Jan Philippe De Claro and Michael Ray Bolano, while UAandP wound up third with 95 points behind Villaroman, Chloe Rada, and Johann Pancho.