The 27th annual Lake County Amateur Golf Championship tees it up two weeks from today at Adams Springs Golf Course on Cobb Mountain. The Amateur is the granddaddy of competitive golf tournaments in Lake County. It is a 36-hole stroke play event that will be contested on Oct. 3-4. One of the seven open events on the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit, the Amateur is one of the circuit”s three majors, awarding double the amount of player performance points for those linksters competing in the championship, senior, net and senior net divisions. There is also a junior division for golfers ages 17 and younger.
First begun in 1975, the concept behind the Lake County Amateur was to identify the best golfer among the county”s five golfing clubs. The earliest versions of the tournament rotated geographically. For instance the 1976 Amateur was contested at Hidden Valley Lake. In 1977 it was held at Buckingham and Clear Lake Riviera golf courses. In 1978 the Amateur was held on Cobb Mountain at Adams Springs and Hobergs. This rotation continued through 1981. The tournament wasn”t held in 1982 and 1983, but it did return the following two years, played at HVL in 1984 and up on Cobb Mountain in 1985.
From 1986 through 1991, the Amateur was not held. The county had four dynamic PGA professionals, namely Pepe Pepoon at Hobergs, George Twitchell at Adams Springs, Chuck Corrigan at Clear Lake Riviera, and Paul Wilcox at Buckingham, all of whom either died, retired from the profession or moved on to greener pastures during that time. Hidden Valley Lake had a revolving door policy toward its pros. With such a complete upheaval in the professional ranks, the event lay dormant for six years.
Through the efforts of Roy Dufrain Sr. of the Lake County Record-Bee, the Amateur returned in early November 1992. It had a field of 104 golfers, half the field playing one round at Adams Springs while the other half teed it up at Hobergs. The fields alternated sites the following day. In late November of 1992, the new owner of Buckingahm, PGA professional Mark Wotherspoon, hosted the inaugural Lake County Open. The genesis of what would become the Lake County Amateur Circuit began that month. Showing the parochialism of Lake County golfers at that time, only two golfers, Bruce Dokken and this columnist, played in both the ”92 Amateur and Open.
Since 1992, the Lake County Amateur has been held exclusively on Cobb Mountain. From 1992 through 2005, it was contested at both Adams Springs and Hobergs. Since 2006 it has been held solely at Adams Springs. The field for the Amateur has never been larger than it was in 1992 and nowadays the list of entrants normally hovers around 50-60 golfers.
The Amateur differs from the other tournaments on the local golf circuit in that it is run by a group of amateur golfers who are board members of the Lake County Junior Golf Council. Proceeds from the Amateur are donated to junior golf. Over the years, those funds have helped to support the Kelseyville High School and Middletown High School golf programs, paying entry fees to invitational tournaments.
The defending champion is Buckingham”s Jonathan Carlson, who shot 70-62 for a 132 total to beat Chip Bowlin of Buckingham by three shots. In fact, Carlson has won the last three Amateurs. A former Kelseyville High School golfer who then played a Point Loma University, Carlson is Lake County”s most decorated golfer. He played in the 2007 U.S. Mid-Am at Bandon Dunes, the 2008 U.S. Amateur at Pinehurst, and played for the NCGA in the 2008 team matches against the NorCal PGA and against the SCGA amateurs. He won the Santa Rosa Two Man this past August for the fifth straight year and he is the reigning Santa Rosa City Amateur champion.
Carlson”s three Amateur titles put him on the same page with Ron Kenneally of Cobb and Juan Lopez of Finley, the other three-time Amateur winners. The late George Hoberg Jr. of Cobb won the Amateur a record-setting six times from 1975 through 1992.
Leonard Lea of Clear Lake Riviera is the defending senior champion, Jim DeCristofaro of Pacifica won last year”s net title, and Mike Reimers of Cobb was the senior net champion. Nick Schaefer, a freshman at U.C. Davis, won last year”s junior division but is ineligible to defend his title because he turned 18 this past May.
Finally, the Amateur is also a tournament within a tournament as the race for Lake County On The Links Golfer of the Year enters its stretch run. After five of seven events, Schaefer has a slim five-point lead over Paul Moore of Ukiah in the championship division. Kelseyville High golf coach John Berry, the aforementioned Juan Lopez, and Norm Rentsch of Lakeport round out the top five. In the net division, Carl Knipping of Lakeport holds a 30-point lead over Jason Laveglia of Lakeport. Rich Steenwyck of Willits, Jack Lucich of Clearlake, Glenn Neasham of Clear Lake Riviera and Rick Easter of Lakeport are all within striking distance of the top spot.
Craig Kinser of Lakeport is atop the senior flight leader board. Fred Figg of Lakeport is also just 30 points from the top spot. Dennis Layton of Kelseyville, Leonard Lea and Alan Mathews of Lakeport are firmly entrenched in the top five. Dave Herrick of Lakeport has a sizeable 180-point lead over Al Mankins of Riviera Heights in the senior net bracket. Seniors have three tourneys remaining, the Amateur, the Senior, and the Tournament of Champions, but Herrick”s lead appears insurmountable. Ken Kearse of Buckingham, Tom Salie of Lakeport and Dr. Bob Jolin of Lakeport still have a mathematical chance of catching Herrick.
The Lake County Amateur Championship tees it up in two weeks at Adams Springs Golf Course on Cobb Mountain. A lot is at stake for that weekend as well as for season-long honors on the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit. Entries are available at local golf courses or by e-mailing berrygolf@aol.com.
