BUCKINGHAM — Juan Lopez of Finley won the 17th annual Lake County Open Golf Championship in stirring fashion on Sunday at Buckingham Golf and Country Club, making birdie on the final hole to jump from third to the winner”s circle.
It marked the fourth time Lopez has won the Lake County Open and his final-nine dramatics made for entertaining and intriguing golf.
Lopez opened play Saturday and a carded a pedestrian 4-over-par 76, which left him in a tie for second place with Point Arena High School golf coach John Seed and two strokes behind tournament leader Chris Curtola of Vallejo. When second-round play began Sunday morning, Curtola posted a 1-over-par round on the front nine. Lopez, playing in the same pairing at Curtola, caught him on the front nine by shooting 1-under-par 35. Tied after 27 holes of play, the drama was about to begin.
Curtola chipped in for birdie on the 10th hole and Lopez bogeyed from the water hazard, giving Curtola a two-stroke lead. A double bogey on the 12th hole by Lopez extended Curtola”s lead to four strokes with only six holes remaining. Curtola gave back two of those shots on the 13th hole where he hooked his tee shot out of bounds and ended up with a double bogey.
The Open leaderboard took a bizarre twist on the par-3 15th hole as tree troubles led to a Lopez double bogey. Curtola had issues in the bunker on the 15th, hitting two shots from the sand, also resulting in double bogey. However, Curtola had also raked the sand trap after his first shot without considering that his ball was still in the bunker. Upon realizing his mistake, Curtola reported his rules infraction and had to add a two-stroke penalty to his scorecard. Meanwhile, John Seed had a run of pars along with a birdie on No. 12 and found himself tied with Curtola and Lopez after 16 holes. Lopez hit his tee shot into the water on the 17th hole and made bogey, while Curtola hit a great shot out of the tules fronting the green and made par.
Standing on the 18th tee, Curtola and Seed were tied for the lead with Lopez one shot back. All three players hit solid drives off the 18th tee. Seed hit his approach shot into the front bunker and Curtola”s second shot drifted right against a tree. Lopez hit his iron shot to 12 feet belong the flag. Curtola took two shots to get away from the trees and made a double-bogey six. Seed hit his sand shot to 14 feet only to have his par putt lip out for a bogey. Lopez drained his birdie putt, the ball falling into the cup on its final roll.
Lopez shot rounds of 76-75 for a 151 winning total. Seed was second (76-76 –152) while Curtola finished third (74-79 — 153). Mike Griggs of Willits came in fourth (80-75 — 155). Tied for fifth were Rob Roy superintendent Billy Witt (82-76 — 158) and Kelseyville High School golf coach John Berry (77-81 — 158).
Lopez had won previous Lake County Open titles in 2003, 2004 and 2005 although none were as hard fought as this year”s.
Senior division
Leonard Lea of Clear Lake Riviera came from a two-stroke first-round deficit to win the senior division, which is open to golfers age 50 and older. Lea shot 82 on Saturday and returned Sunday with the low senior round of the day, a 79, for a 161 total and a three-stroke margin of victory. In second place was Jack Winter of Lower Lake, the first-round leader (80-84 — 164).
Jack Street of Hidden Valley Lake came in third (84-81 — 165), Dr. Bob Jolin of Lakeport was fourth (89-80 — 169), and Dennis Layton of Kelseyville finished fifth (86-87 — 173).
Although Winter came up short in the overall senior division, he did have a runaway win in the senior net division, taking home the title with a seven-shot victory (65-69 — 134). Lea reversed roles, coming in second (72-69 — 141) and Jolin was third (76-67 — 143).
Rod Weiper of Kelseyville (76-72 — 148) and Ken Kearse of Buckingham (75-74 — 149) rounded out the top five.
Net division
The net division for golfers with handicaps of 10 or higher also featured a come-from-behind winner as Todd Colbrandt of Middletown jumped over six golfers on Sunday to claim the net title by one stroke. Colbrandt shot a 76 on Saturday and was mired in seventh place, but he came back Sunday by posting the only under-par net score of the day with a 69, giving him a winning total of 145.
One stroke back in second place was Richard Steenwyck of Willits (72-74 — 146). Third place went to Rich Knight of Kelseyville (72-75 — 147), first-round leader Jerry Pendleton of Cobb was fourth (70-78 –148), and Alan Mathews of Lakeport came in fifth (75-74 — 149).
Forty-four golfers teed it up at this year”s Open. Defending champion J.J. McMillen of Ukiah had a scheduling conflict and could not return to defend his title.
The next event on the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit is the 12th annual Lake County Three Person Championship May 17-18 at Buckingham. Entries are available at area golf courses.
