Jonathan Carlson of Buckingham made it three in a row this past weekend as he successfully defended his title during the 26th annual Lake County Amateur Golf Championship at Adams Springs Golf Course on Cobb Mountain.
The Amateur is a major points event on the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit and is sponsored by Dufrain Publishing.
Conditions were difficult during first-round play Saturday with steady rain throughout the day. The putting surfaces were saturated and birdies were hard to come by as nine golfers in the championship flight were crowded atop the leader board within five shots of one another.
Chip Bowlin of Buckingham had the first-round lead with a 1-over-par 69. One shot back was a trio of golfers at 2-over-par 70, including defending champion Carlson and past champions Juan Lopez of Finley and Billy Witt of Kelseyville. Lake County Junior champion Nick Schaefer shot 73 as did Norm Rentsch of Lakeport and Kelseyville High School golf coach John Berry. Former Hidden Valley Lake professional Shawn Auten, now a reinstated amateur, carded a 74 as did John Seed of Sea Ranch.
The weather was much improved during Sunday”s second round and the greens generously held and putted true. Carlson took advantage of the near-perfect conditions by shooting a 3-under-par 31 on the front nine to open up a two-shot lead over Bowlin, who carded an even-par 34. Lopez also shot 34 and Witt had a 35. Carlson continued to turn up the heat on the opposition as he birdied the 11th, 12th and 14th holes to build a four-shot lead over Bowlin.
Carlson gave one back with a bogey on the 410-yard par-4 15th hole, but he then birdied No. 17. He carded a back-nine 31 for an 18-hole total of 62 and a 4-under-par 36-hole total of 132.
Bowlin had his strongest showing in a Lake County Circuit event by finishing second, three shots behind Carlson at 135 (69-66). Witt finished at even par with 136 (70-66), while Lopez came in fourth with 139 (70-69). Seed struggled on his opening nine Sunday but roared back with a back-nine 30 to finish fifth at 143 (74-69).
Rounding out the top 10 were sixth-place finisher Schaefer at 146 (73-73); Berry at 148 (73-75); Auten (74-79) and Rentsch (73-80), tied for eighth at 153; and former Kelseyville High School golfer Aaron Speed of Lodi at 157 (78-79).
Carlson, who earlier this summer qualified for and played in the United States Amateur at storied Pinehurst, was on his game all day long with seven birdies and one bogey.
“Jonathan didn”t miss a shot all day long,” Witt said. “He could have shot even lower.”
Carlson donated his first-place winnings to the Kelseyville High School golf team. The former Kelseyville High all-conference golfer graduated from the school in 1999.
As an added tip of the hat to his golfing skills, Carlson has been named to the 12-member Northern California amateur team in the Hanna-Wehrman Cup Matches at Castlewood Country Club, to be contested later this month. The Hanna-Wehrman Cup is Ryder Cup-type series of matches against the top players from the Northern California PGA. No Lake County golfer has ever played in these matches.
Net flight
In the net flight for golfers with handicaps of 10 and greater, Jim DeCristofaro of Pacifica ran away with his division, shooting net rounds of 64 and 62 for a 126 total and a six-stroke margin of victory. DeCristofaro, an 11-handicapper, shot gross scores of 75 and 73, and had he entered the championship flight he would have come in seventh.
DeCristofaro”s final nine on Sunday was punctuated with a 33 that included four birdies. Last year”s net champion, Jerry Pendleton of Lakeport, was second with 132 (66-66). John Flynn of Cobb and Sean Mullins of San Francisco tied for third at 139. First-round leader Flynn fired a 61.
Todd Colbrandt of Middletown was fifth with 142 (68-74), Jim Crane of Kelseyville came in sixth with 145 (75-70), Jack Lucich of Clearlake was seventh with 146 (72-74), and Lower Lake football coach Joe DelPrete was eighth with 148 (78-70).
Senior flight
In the senior flight for golfers ages 50 and older, Leonard Lea of Clear Lake Riviera won his third Lake County Amateur title in a runaway, shooting rounds of 76 and 79 for a 155 total and nine-shot victory. Dennis Layton of Kelseyville came in second with 164 (85-79), and Jack Winter of Lower Lake, the Lake County Senior Golfer of the Year for 2007, was two behind Layton after carding rounds of 89 and 77 for a 166 total.
Senior net division
In the senior net division, Mike Reimers of Cobb successfully defended his title after shooting 133 (68-65). Reimers shot a final-nine 38 for a net 31 to charge into the lead and win by three strokes. Rod Weiper of Kelseyville and Norm Madison of Oakland tied for second. Weiper, the Senior Net Golfer of the Year in 2007, shot 136 (68-68). Madison also finished at 136 (69-67).
Tied for fourth were Ed Cebula of Sonoma and Dave Herrick of Lakeport, both with 137.
Schaefer repeated as the Amateur junior champ with 146 (73-73). He beat fellow Kelseyville High teammate Jonathan Bridges, who finished at 162 (82-80).
Forty golfers competed in this year”s Amateur. The next event on the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit is the Lake County Senior on Oct. 18 at Buckingham. The next full-field event is the Tournament of Champions on Oct. 25 at Buckingham.
