BUCKINGHAM — Brels Solomon of Upper Lake won the 18th annual Lake County Match Play Golf Championship on Saturday at Buckingham Golf and Country Club.
Unlike traditional stroke play golf tournaments, match play is a hole-by-hole format between two golfers, the winner advancing to the next round.
During a morning of upsets, top seed Juan Lopez of Finley lost a 20-hole semifinal battle to Javier Castaneda of Kelseyville. Lopez was the prohibitive favorite, but Castaneda kept close throughout the match. He carried a one-hole lead in into the watery 17th hole and had a chance to end the match on that hole only to miss a short par putt. Lopez won the 18th hole with a par, forcing the match into overtime.
Both golfers tied on the 19th hole, but when Lopez hooked his tee shot into the water on the 20th hole, Castaneda was the upset winner.
In the other semifinal, Solomon jumped to an early lead against Brad Pendleton of Lakeport and maintained it throughout the back nine. Solomon ended up beating Pendleton by a 4 and 3 margin (four-hole lead with three holes remaining).
In the championship match between Solomon and Castaneda, Solomon continued his strong level of play and once again jumped out to an early lead. He continued to accumulate pars and prevailed over Castaneda 3 and 2. It was Solomon”s third Match Play victory. He won his first in 1996 while still playing high school golf at Kelseyville. His second title came in 1998 when he was a collegiate golfer at Cal State San Bernardino.
Net division
In the net division for golfers with handicaps of 10 and higher, Rick Easter of Lakeport won his initial match against Joe Del Prete of Kelseyville by a 1-up margin. The match went back and for throughout and neither golfer ever had a sizeable advantage.
In the other net match, Jack Lucich of Clearlake easily handled John Flynn of Cobb 4 and 3.
In the net flight finals, Easter used his power off the tee to take an early lead on Lucich, establishing a three-hole lead after nine holes. Lucich nibbled away at Easter”s lead but struggled with his putting during the final nine holes. Following a weak drive, Easter”s dynamic par on the 16th hole was good enough to lock out Lucich 3 and 2 and secure the Match Play title.
Senior net division
In the senior division for golfers age 50 and older, Colin Ross of Buckingham defeated Alan Mathews of Lakeport 3 and 2 in the semifinals. Ross got up early in the round, but then Mathews cut his lead to a 1-up margin through 14 holes. Ross made a great par save on the long par-3 15th hole and closed out the match with a par on the 16th hole.
In the other semifinal, Kelseyville High School golf coach John Berry jumped out to a three-hole lead through nine holes over Dr. Bob Jolin of Lakeport. Berry continued to build his lead on the back nine and a par on the 14th hole sealed a 5 and 4 win.
In the senior net final, Berry carded a 1-up lead over Ross through nine holes. A par on the 10th hole and a birdie at No. 11 gave Berry a 3-up lead, but Ross immediately won the next two holes with pars. Berry got the lead back to 2-up with a par on the 14th hole and did the same on the 16th hole to close out the match with a 3 and 2 victory over Ross.
The next event on the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit is the 22nd annual Lake County Open on April 27-28 at Buckingham. Call the Buckingham pro shop at 279-4863 for more information.
