Jonathan Carlson of Buckingham and Jake Koschik of Kelseyville won the 13th annual Lake County Partners Two Person Scramble this past weekend at Buckingham Golf and Country Club.
Carlson and Koschik, who played on the same 1999 Coastal Mountain Conference championship team at Kelseyville High School, ran away from the rest of the field by carding scores of 66 and 65 for a 131 total. Their 13-under-par total was more than enough as they beat an elite Redwood Empire field by four shots.
The Two Person Scramble was played under varying weather conditions on Saturday morning as golfers experienced sunshine, wind, cold, hail and rain. Those golfers who teed off later in the day took the brunt of the weather. Sunday”s play started out in near freezing conditions, but it become more spring-like as the day wore on.
Carlson and Koschik took a one-stroke lead into play on Sunday over defending champions Juan Lopez of Finley and Upper Lake High School coach Craig Kinser. They continued to play stellar golf over the front nine, carding a four-under 32 as they built their lead to five shots with just nine holes to play. A back-nine 33 sealed the deal. Meanwhile, the Ukiah duo of Paul Moore and Brian Bechtol carded a back-nine five-under 31 and slipped into second place, finishing with 135 (70-65).
Lopez and Kinser came in third with 137 (67-70). In fourth place was the father-son team of John Seed of Sea Ranch and Roby Seed of Roseville. Roby Seed played college golf at U.C. Davis and works for the Kyle Phillips golf architectural firm. The Seeds shot 143 (74-69), a one-under total.
Rounding out the top five was the team of Nick Schaefer, a two-time All-Coastal Mountain Conference golfer at Kelseyville High School, and Kelseyville High golf coach John Berry. Schaefer-Berry shot consecutive par rounds of 72 for a 144 total.
Net flight
In the net flight for golfers with handicaps of 8 and higher, Mike Miller and Seth Archer of Garberville successfully defended their Partners Scramble title in classic fashion by carding net scores of 64-54 for a 118 total. They won by three strokes. Miller and Archer trailed by four shots going into Sunday”s round but carded the lowest net score of the day, beating residents Rich Steenwyck and Sonoma State student Devon Steenwyck. The Steenwyck duo posted net scores of 62 and 52 for 121 total, good enough to tie for second with first-round leaders Rick Easter of Lakeport and Todd Colbrandt of Middletown. Easter and Colbrandt had rounds of 60 and 61 for a 121 total.
Dr. Bob Jolin of Lakeport and his son, Mike Jolin, were one shot out of second place with 122 (63-59) to finish fourth. Carl Knipping of Nice and his nephew, Luke Lucchesi, a member of the Ukiah High golf team, finished fifth with 126 (65-61).
Senior flight
In a closely fought senior division for golfers age 50 and older, Keith Fudge and Richard Carlson of Rancho Murieta shot a four-under-par 68 on Sunday to jump from third place to first. Fudge and Carlson posted rounds of 75 and 68 for a 143 winning total.
In second place were Ukiah High School golf coach Chris Philbrick and Ed Hashim of Fresno with 145 (73-72). One shot behind them were 2006 senior champions Terry Roundy and Ben Courtright of Sacramento.
Leonard Lea of Clear Lake Riviera and partner Dennis Layton of Kelseyville came in fourth with 154 (77-77).
Senior net flight
Jeff Markham of Lake-port and Ken Kearse of Buckingham held onto their first-round lead in the senior net division and romped to a four-shot win by carding net totals of 58 and 63 for a 121 total. Markham and Kearse beat out defending champions Rod Weiper of Kelseyville and Tom Salie of Lakeport. Weiper and Salie posted finished with 125 (60-65).
Fred Figg of Lakeport and Jack Winter of Lower Lake finished third with 128 (69-59). Their net 59 on Sunday was the low round of the day as they jumped from 11th to third.
The golfing accomplishment of the weekend occurred late during second-round play on Sunday as the Ukiah father-son team of Alex Goeken and Seth Goeken recorded a double-eagle-two on the par-5, 515-yard 13th hole. Alex Goeken holed out a 3-wood from 225 yards to achieve this rare golfing feat. Regardless of the format, it was the first recorded double eagle in the 15-year history of the Lake County Amateur Circuit.
A full field of 64 golfers competed in the Two Person Scramble, the first event of the year on the 11-tournament schedule for 2008. The next circuit event takes place April 26-27 at Buckingham with the playing of the 16th annual Lake County Open, a 36-hole stroke play event.
