BUCKINGHAM ? It is often said that the tournament isn”t decided until the final nine holes on Sunday and that was the case in the 14th annual Lake County Partners Scramble held last weekend at Buckingham Golf and Country Club.
With just seven holes left to play, there was a logjam atop the leader board in the championship flight, six teams within one shot of each other. It was at that point that the team of Paul Moore and Brian Bechtol of Ukiah went to work and quickly distanced themselves from the rest of the field, going on to win their first Partners Scramble title.
On the 260-yard, par-4 12th hole, Bechtol and Moore hit their tee shot onto the green and sunk the putt for an eagle-two. On the par-5 13th, they reached the green in two and two-putted for a birdie. After making pars on the back-to-back par-3 14th and 15th holes, Moore and Bechtol birdied the back to-back par-5 16th and 17th holes and topped it off with a birdie on the long par-4 18th.
The Ukiah duo were a combined a 6-under-par over the final seven holes to finish at 68-65 (133), an 11-under-par total for what resulted in a truly remarkable eight-shot margin of victory.
Moore and Bechtol”s heroics were played under what could easily be described as the toughest playing conditions in the 16-year history of the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit. Winds gusting at close to 40 miles per hour constantly swirled throughout play on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday”s winds were especially harsh, with balls moving from sitting positions on the greens, even to the point of rolling farther away from the hole. Because Buckingham is surrounded by mountainous terrain and sits in a bowl, the swirling winds made it seem as if the golfers were playing into the wind on every hole regardless of what direction one was going.
In a distant second behind Moore and Bechtol were Partners Scramble defending champions Juan Lopez of Finley and Brels Solomon of Upper Lake, a reinstated amateur. Lopez and Solomon finished with a 3-under-par total of 141 (70-71). One shot behind Lopez and Solomon at 142 (70-72) were third-place finishers Chip Bowlin of Buckingham and Norm Rentsch of Lakeport.
Kelseyville High School golf coach John Berry and son Nick Schaefer, a three-time Coastal Mountain Conference first-team golfer, came in fourth with 143 (70-73). Rounding out the top five was the fifth-place team of John Seed, the golf coach at Point Arena High School, and Shawn Auten of Hidden Valley Lake at 144 (73-71). Auten was a high school teammate of Solomon at Kelseyville High School and is also a reinstated amateur.
? Senior flight
The senior flight of the Partners Scramble for golfers age 50 and older was much more closely contested and required a four-hole sudden-death playoff to determine the winner. At the end of the 36-hole regulation play, the Kelseyville team of Ted Knowles and Hipolito Perez Sr. finished tied with the Ukiah duo of Bo Strong and Dan Murphy. Knowles and Perez carded a 1-over-par 145 (70-75), while Strong and Murphy made up two shots over the final nine holes to record their 145 (72-73).
On the first playoff hole, just as things were looking grim for the Perez-Knowles team, Perez chipped in from off the green for par and a tie. On the second playoff hole, Knowles hit a great lob shot to within 1 foot, setting up a par, and Strong matched him by making a 15-foot putt.
The third extra hole was halved with short par putts. On the deciding fourth playoff hole, Murphy had a downhill 5-foot putt for par and a tie only to see the ball jump over the top of the cup for a bogey-six. Knowles and Perez two-putted for par from 8 feet to win.
Tied for third place three shots back were the teams Dennis Layton of Kelseyville and Leonard Lea of Clear Lake Riviera, and Craig Kinser and Alan Mathews of Lakeport. First-round leaders Kinser and Mathews stumbled in Sunday”s and finished at 148 (69-79). Layton and Lea also finished at 148 (71-77). Also at 148 (71-77) were Fred Figg of Lakeport and Jack Winter of Lower Lake.
? Net flight
In the net flight for golfers with handicaps of 10 or higher, first-round leaders Joel West of Cobb and Jason Laveglia of Lakeport built upon their early lead to record net rounds of 56 and 58 for a 114 total and a four-shot margin of victory. Glenn Neasham of Kelseyville and Jeff Markham of Lakeport were second with 118 (59-59).
West and Laveglia attributed their victory to “ham and egging it,” meaning that when on partner was in trouble, the other was able to come through in the clutch.
Dr. Bob Jolin of Lakeport and Kelseyville High School golfer Wyatt Ferrell finish in third place with 121 (61-60). Todd Colbrandt of Middletown and Rick Easter of Lakeport were fourth at 123 (62-61).
? Senior net flight
In the senior net flight, Al Mankins of Riviera Heights and Dave Herrick of Lakeport captured their division with 119 (58-61). Next was the team of Jesse Santana of Kelseyville and Bud Vanieuwenhuyzen of Turlock with 124 (61-63). Rod Weiper and Lyle James of Kelseyville finished at 128 (63-65) as did Mike Lephew and Robert Folk of Buckingham (63-65).
Sixty golfers took part in the Partners Scramble, the historical kickoff to the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit season. The next tournament on the circuit calendar is the Lake County Open, which will be contested April 25-26 at Buckingham Golf and Country Club.
