BODEGA BAY — One of the nice things about playing at Bodega Harbour Golf Links is the wind.
But only if you”re a masochist.
With a three- to four-club wind swirling around the assembled golfers Thursday during a Coastal Mountain Conference South match on the Sonoma County coast, only six golfers managed rounds in the 80s on the Robert Trent Jones par-70 layout, which is difficult enough on those rare days when the wind isn”t howling off the bay.
“I didn”t think more than five golfers would shoot in the 80s and there were six, so I was close,” Kelseyville coach John Berry said after watching his veteran Kelseyville club post a 461 winning total (based on the combined low rounds of five out of six golfers).
The wins moves Kelseyville into a tie with St. Vincent for the South lead through two matches. St. Vincent came in second with 483, Rincon Valley Christian had 500, Middletown finished with 521, St. Helena had 581, Calistoga had 602, and Tomales was incomplete (fewer than five golfers).
“Our experienced guys gutted it out and hung in there,” Berry said of four-year veterans Nick Schaefer (87), Jonathan Bridges (89) and Hipolito Perez (90).
Rincon Valley Christ-ian”s Ty Cazet had the low individual round at 83, while his brother, Kasey Cazet, and Kelseyville”s Schaefer, were next at 87.
The only other golfers shooting in the 80s were Middletown”s Blaine Ruggio and Lisa Copeland, both at 88.
So treacherous were the winds that only three birdies were carded during the day”s round — Copeland, Drake and Ty Cazet had one apiece.
Coaches also play during conference matches and Berry said at one point he hit the ball onto a green, then watched the wind push it off the green and down a hill.
The CMC South golfers resume South action Monday at Hidden Valley Lake Golf Course.
