The Lake County Amateur, the granddaddy of amateur golfing events in our neck of the woods, tees off two weeks from today at Adams Springs Golf Club on Cobb Mountain. It will mark the 25th time the Amateur has been played and this year”s 36-hole stroke-play tournament is being sponsored by Dufrain Publishing and Kelseyville Lumber.
The inaugural Lake County Amateur was first played at Hidden Valley Lake in 1975. It was won by George Hoberg of Cobb, acknowledged as one of Lake County”s top golfers for more than a 40-year period. Hoberg would end up winning the Amateur six times, the last one in 1992.
The initial decade of the Lake County Amateur was haphazard at best. After HVL hosted the tourney in 1975 and 1976, a rotation ensued wherein the event would visit the courses on the lake ? Buckingham and Clear Lake Riviera (now Riviera Hills) ? the courses on the mountain ? Adams Springs and Hobergs (now Rob Roy) ? and then return to Hidden Valley Lake.
That plan worked out just fine for three years, but then Buckingham and Clear Lake Riviera dropped the ball and the tournament wasn”t held in 1982, 1983 and 1986. By the mid-1980s, there was a lot of administrative chaos in Lake County golfing circles. Pepe Pepoon, the longtime pro at Hobergs, passed away. The Groom family sold Adams Srpings and its pro, George Twitchell, retired and moved to Santa Rosa. Chuck Corrigan left Clear Lake Riviera and Buckingham”s longtime pro, Paul Wilcox, also left. Meanwhile, Hidden Valley Lake was going through pros like water, replacing them as well as general managers on an almost annual basis, a sure sign of the inmates running the asylum.
There were a number of talented amateur golfers at that time in Lake County. Yet a home golf tournament for the fairly active contingent of scratch golfers meant playing in the Mendocino Amateur, the Colusa County, the Santa Rosa City, and the North Coast Amateur. From 1985-1991, Lake County golf courses lacked the interest and the desire to revive the Amateur.
In 1992, Adams Springs” general manager, Duke Doucette, and the Lake County Record-Bee”s Roy Dufrain, reinstated the event. A large field of 110 golfers entered that year, with half the field alternating between Adams Springs and Hobergs, followed by the awards ceremony at Clear Lake Riviera. Hoberg won, John Berry came in second, and the top five included Ron Kenneally of Cobb, John McMillan of Hidden Valley Lake, and Mike Lemmon of Clear Lake Riviera.
Since 1992, the Amateur has been a Cobb Mountain tradition although Adams Springs has been the sole host of the event for three of the last four years. Adams Springs opened 45 years ago and was designed by Jack Fleming, a well-known golf course architect who learned his craft while working for Alistair Mackenzie on projects at Pasatiempo, the Meadow Club, Cypress Point, and Augusta National. Upon Mackenzie”s death in 1932, Fleming ventured out on his own and has 100-plus designs and revisions to his credit, including Sharon Heights, Napa Muni, Santa Rosa Country Club, Blue Rock, and the Ocean Course at the Olympic Club. Fleming redid Harding Park and the interior nine-hole course is named after him.
Last year”s Amateur at Adams Springs was three-way battle to the end with Jonathan Carlson of Buckingham winning by three shots with rounds of 68 and 70 for a 138 total. With just two holes left to play, Carlson, Juan Lopez of Finley, and 16-year-old Doug Quinones of Hidden Valley Lake were all within one shot of each other. Carlson reeled off birdies on the final two holes to extend his lead, but it was closer than the final score indicated.
Alas, Carlson might not be back on Cobb Mountain on Oct. 6-7 to defend his Amateur title. He has qualified for the United States Mid-Amateur Championships at Bandon Dunes and should he work his way into the match play portion of the tournament, he would miss the Amateur. Then again, a U.S. Mid-Am win means an automatic invite into the 2008 Masters, so you can see why the long-hitting Carlson might not be able to defend his Lake County title.
The Amateur also has flights for seniors, net golfers and juniors. Last year in the senior division, Leonard Lea of Clear Lake Riviera prevailed to win by four shots over Cobb”s Joe Vallee. In 2005, Lea beat Vallee in a three-hole sudden-death playoff.
Tom Salie of Lakeport won the senior net flight, taking a slim one-shot victory over Al Mankins of Riviera Heights.
Chris Fisher ran away with the net flight at last year”s Amateur, posting net scores of 65 and 62, a tournament record nine-under-par 127 total to win his division by five shots. Fisher”s game has taken another step forward in 2007 and he has improved to the point where he is now a single-digit handicapper.
Quinones, who tied for second overall, won the junior division at the 2006 Amateur. A power player, Quinones has had lots of success at Adams Springs, having won back-to-back Lake County Junior titles in 2006-07.
The 25th annual Lake County Amateur tees it up Oct. 6 at Adams Springs Golf Course on Cobb Mountain. A few spaces still are available and entry forms can be picked up at Adams Springs or Buckingham.
