Joshua Buenaventura will be coming off an impressive first leg effort at Royal Northwoods. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

With the weather finally clearing, Joshua Buenaventura and University of the Philippines-1 come into the second leg of the ICTSI Intercollegiate Golf Tour as the favorites and continue to take the spotlight away from the fabled La Salle-Ateneo athletic rivalry.

READ: La Salle-Ateneo rivalry spills into another arena

The Splendido Taal Golf Club in Laurel town in Batangas has been deemed playable despite more than a week of rains that pummeled the country, flooded cities and municipalities and left scores evacuating their homes.

Buenaventura will be shooting to win the men’s individual title for the second straight stop. He triumphed at Royal Northwoods where he shot an impressive three-under-par 69 to beat seasoned competitor Zachary Castro of La Salle by two shots.

“We are hoping to be even better (as a team),” Buenaventura said as he again teams up with Miggy Roque and Emilio Carpio in the three-to-play, two-to-count team format where the Fighting Maroons clipped the Green Archers.

“We have high expectations,” Buenaventura went on. “We are aiming for another championship.”

Castro, a veteran of many club team competitions, will be joined by Jose Lorenzo Flores and Miguel Fusilero for La Salle-1, while Joson, whose third place finish in individual play was boosted by an ace at Northwoods, will again spearhead Ateneo-2.

Matthew Mendoza and Juan Escaño Jr. will join Joson in shooting to improve the Blue Eagles’ third place finish in Bulacan.

The second leg of the women’s division, meanwhile, will be held on Aug. 9 at Caliraya Springs Golf Club in Cavinti, Laguna.

Points are awarded to the top eight teams and individual players after each leg, with the top three players and squads to advance to the Grand Finals set in September also at Splendido.

A win would mean 15 points, second would be good for 12, and 10 points will be awarded the third placer in both the individual and team play. The circuit will have four stops in total before the Finals.