Wotherspoon captures season opener
Matt Wotherspoon continued his domination of the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit on Sunday by shooting a -10 under par 62 to capture the 13th annual Lake County One Person Scramble Golf Championship at Buckingham Golf and Country Club at the base of Mount Konocti. Originally scheduled for this past Saturday, the One Person was delayed by one day because of inclement weather. It was rescheduled for the following day and yet approximately half the field had to finish in a rainstorm on Sunday afternoon. It was all about talent as well as toughingout the weather. The One Person began the 31st season of operation for the 12 tournament Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit.
The One Person is the ultimate mulligan-fest as the golfer has the option of replaying his original shot and then getting to choose which ball he wishes to play. It can be a format where poor shots such as an out of bounds tee shot is erased by a shot in the fairway or it can also be used when the golfer hits the ball into the center of the green and then uses his or her second shot to go flaghunting. Either way the option is always there to take the better of two shots. It can also be exhausting as the golfer usually hits twice as many shots as usual.
Matt Wotherspoon opened up with a -4 under par on his front nine and then put his peddle to the metal by carding a -6 under par 30 on the incoming nine to shoot a 62, good enough for a three shot margin of victory. It was a 10 birdies and eight pars round. The key to Wotherspoon's victory was his ability to make birdies on all six of Buckingham's par five holes. A four time allconference golfer at Kelseyville High School and a recent graduate as well as member of the golf team at California State University San Bernardino, Wotherspoon intends to hone his game by actively playing on the Northern California Golf Association (NCGA) amateur schedule this year. His next big event is at the long running San Francisco City Amateur beginning this Friday, February 24.
Jeremiah Valador of Kelseyville had his highest finish to date on the Lake County Circuit by finishing second with a -7 under par 65. Valador is ever-improving and it is a good guess that it will be just a matter of time before he finds his place in the winner's circle in an individual circuit event. Past One Person titlist Billy Witt, the superintendent at Hidden Valley Lake Golf Course, finished in solo third with a -6 under par 66. One stroke further back and rounding out the top five was the twosome of Juan Lopez and Luke Legoski. Lopez, who is the golf coach at Clear Lake High School and the most successful golfer in the history of the local circuit, shot a -5 under par 67 as did Legoski, now a Lake County local who played his high school golf at Cardinal Newman High School some 15 years ago.
Witt won the senior division of the One Person with his 66. The senior division is for golfers aged 50 and above. Fellow 50-something Juan Lopez was second with his 67. Rick Easter of Lakeport finished in third place after carding a 73 while Todd Colbrandt of Middletown was next with a 76.
In the net division for golfers with handicaps of 10 and above, Kevin Ellis of Lower Lake won for the first time on the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit by shooting a net score of 53. Ellis
ran away from the rest of the field to win by four strokes. Jimmy Hale of Kelseyville finished in second place with a net score of 57 while recent Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate Jacob Lopez put up a net score of 59. Lopez played on the golf team at Clear Lake High School. Kyle Ellis of Kelseyville posted a net score of 61 while Pete Wotherspoon of Buckingham and Darren Hostetler of Ukiah came in with net scores of 63.
In the senior net flight for golfers aged 50 and above with handicaps of 10 or more, there was a tie atop the leader board as circuit regulars Terry Norwood of Lakeport and Ted Knowles of Kelseyville both carded net scores of
57. Norwood won the sudden death playoff in the pouring rain with a net birdie on the first playoff hole. Robert Evans of Kelseyville recorded a net score of 60 while Huey Lewis and John Goostree finished with scores of net
63.
The next event on the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit is the Two Person Scramble which will be contested at Buckingham Golf and Country Club on Saturday, March 16th. Following the conclusion of play Buckingham's PGA professional Mark Wotherspoon will honor the four golfers who prevailed in the On the Links Golfer of the Year races last year. They include golfer of the year Matt Wotherspoon, senior golfer of the year Juan Lopez, net golfer of the year Rick Easter, and senior net golfer of the year Dr. Bob Jolin.