BUCKINGHAM >> The trio of Matt Wotherspoon, Max Huff, and Wyatt Ferrell saved their best for last as they captured the 19th annual Lake County Three Man Championship last weekend at Buckingham Golf and Country Club.
Huff and Ferrell are former Kelseyville High School classmates while Wotherspoon is a freshman at Kelseyville and the two-time Lake County Junior champion.
Playing under the scramble format where a team of three golfers plays the golf course by using the best shot of the group throughout the course of their round, Wotherspoon-Huff-Ferrell opened first-round action Saturday by posting a 7-under-par 65 to jump out to a two-stroke lead. In second place was the threesome of Cliff Morris of Cobb, Peter Wotherspoon of Buckingham and Dylan Harrison of Cobb. They shot a 5-under-par 67. Within range of the leader board was the team of Rick Easter of Lower Lake, Todd Colbrandt of Middletown and Pat Chambers of Kelseyville. Easter-Colbrandt-Chambers were in solo third place with a 69.
The Wotherspoon-Huff-Ferrell team built upon its lead over the course of the first eight holes during Sunday morning’s second-round play. The threesome was able to extend its lead to four strokes with just 10 holes remaining. Instead of sitting on their relatively safe status atop the leader board, they got into a successful attack mode and ran away from their closest pursuers.
Wotherspoon-Huff-Ferrell eagled the par-5 ninth hole. They ran off three birdies in a row on holes 10, 11 and 12. An eagle-three followed on the par-5 13th hole. They added another birdie on the par-3 14th hole before settling for par on the par-3 15th hole, their only par on the back nine. They eagled the 16th hole, birdied the watery 17th hole and birdied the long par-4 18th hole. When the dust finally settled, Wotherspoon-Huff-Ferrell had carded a final nine 10-under-par 26 to go with their 6-under-par 30 on the front nine for a final 16-under-par 56. Their second day scorecard featured 10 birdies and three eagles and they were able to post a 23-under-par aggregate of 121 and a dominating 14-stroke win.
The Morris-Peter Wotherspoon-Harrison team finished second with 135 (67-68). Easter-Colbrandt-Chambers came in third with 139 (69-70). Both teams historically play in the net flight in the majority of Lake County Circuit tournaments.
Senior flight
In the senior flight for golfers age 50 and older, defending Senior Three Man champions Craig Kinser, Alan Mathews and Jerry Pangle, all Lakeport residents, shot a 65 on Saturday to open up a three-stroke lead over their closest pursuers. Kinser-Mathews-Pangle backed up on Sunday morning and ended up shooting a 3-under-par 69 for a 134 total, but they still outperformed the competition and were able to record a solid three-stroke victory.
Senior net flight
While the championship flight resulted in a runaway and the senior flight provided the defending champions with a relatively easy walk to victory lane, the net flight for golfers with handicaps of 10 and higher did provide some amount of golfing drama as Armond Urbano of Middletown, John Flynn of Cobb and Scot Lamanuzzi of Buckingham were able to win their division by the slimmest of margins.
Urbano-Flynn-Lamanuzzi opened first-round play Saturday by recording a net scramble score of 54, leaving them tied atop a tightly contested leader board. Tied at 54 was the trio of Cliff Morris, Peter Wotherspoon and Dylan Harrison, who also played in the championship flight. Easter-Cobrandt-Chambers added to the congested leader board with a third team at net 54. Two strokes back at net 56 were a pair of threesomes that included Jack Lucich of Clearlake, Jim DeCristofaro of Lakeport and Bob Iverson of Buckingham, and the team of Dr. Bob Jolin of Lakeport, Manny Mendoza of Buckingham and Craig Fletcher of Lakeport.
Urbano-Flynn-Lamanuzzi returned Sunday morning and shot a second consecutive 54 for a 108 total, resulting in a one-stroke victory. In second place following a Sunday score of net 55 and a 109 aggregate was the team of Morris-Peter Wotherspoon-Harrison. One stroke farther back in third place was the trio of Lucich-DeCristofaro-Iverson with a second-round net 54 for a 110 total. Easter-Colbrandt-Chambers recorded a second-day net 56. Jolin-Mendoza-Fletcher shot 58 on Sunday and finished with 114.
While the weather throughout the weekend had its moments of rain and lightning, the early start to Sunday’s round and the relatively fast pace of play allowed the Three Man to be completed prior to the inclement weather that hit the area later Sunday afternoon.
The next event on the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit is the Lake County Senior, a one-day event that will be held at Buckingham on May 30. The next open event on the local amateur tour takes place June 27-28 with the playing of the Lake County Partners Championship, a two-person better ball tournament. Entry information for both of these events is available by contacting the pro shop at Buckingham at 279-4863.
