BUCKINGHAM — Arcata High School won the team crown and McKenzie Ford of McKinleyville won the individual title on Monday during the North Coast Section Division II Girls” Golf Championships at Buckingham Golf and Country Club.
The nine-hole course layout was slightly tweaked to make it more accommodating to the 17 foursomes taking part in the competition, which the first of its kind to be contested in Lake County. Instead of playing to a par of 72, Buckingham played to a par 74 as two par-3 holes — the sixth and 12th — were lengthened to par-4s.
“On a nine-hole course it can get pretty crowded with that many foursomes, so it helped space people out,” Kelseyville coach and tournament official John Berry said.
Although Division II teams do not advance to the next level of the playoffs, the low four individuals move on to the Tournament of Champions next Monday at Lone Tree Golf Course in Antioch.
Ford grabbed the top spot at Buckingham with a 4-over-par 78, one shot better than Brittany Bisgrove of Arcata and Jessica Yim of St. Patrick/St. Vincent of Vallejo, both at 79. Isabella Bosetti of Justin-Siena of Napa nailed down the final berth with an 82.
While rain pounded the course on Saturday and Sunday, Buckingham”s volcanic soil helped drain away the majority of that moisture and the course was in good shape for the early Monday morning tee time, according to Berry.
“It”s one of the few courses in Northern California that could have taken that much rain and still be playable,” Berry said. “The course was in good shape and the greens were fine.”
Led by Bisgrove, Arcata took the team plaque with a score of 394. The low four of six rounds determines a team”s score. Five shots back was Justin-Siena at 399 followed by McKinleyville at 400.
It took 5 ? hours to get the 17 foursomes around Buckingham, but the tournament ran smoothly, according to Berry.
“It”s fun running something like that but there”s a lot to it,” Berry said.
A gallery of between 200-250 people looked on during the tournament, which had a really feel-good vibe to it, according to Berry.
Two Coastal Mountain Conference golfers taking part were Jessica Maynard of Petaluma”s St. Vincent High School, and Lake County”s lone entry, Liz Berry of Kelseyville. Maynard carded a 96 and Berry finished at 105.
While the schedule isn”t set yet, Lake County could get into a rotation with other Northern California courses to host the tournament every seven years (perhaps less), according to Berry.
“It”s good for the local economy,” Berry said of the many golfers who arrived at the course this past weekend to get in a practice round.
Many of the golfers coming from long distances — the section stretches from the Oregon border to the Bay Area — stayed in local motels and ate at local restaurants, according to Berry.
