While we find ourselves in the midst of a much needed El Nino winter here in Northern California, there is still golf to be played, whether we have February days in the mid-70s (that’s temperature, not score) or up-and-coming March days with blustery winds and cold rain. The PGA Tour comes to Carmel Bay next week with the playing of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am at Monterey Peninsula Country Club, Spyglass Hill Golf Club and the Pebble Beach Golf Links from Thursday through Sunday. Maybe the professionals and the celebrities will get an extension of this week’s May-like Super Bowl weather. Then again, past tournaments have produced “Crosby weather” with heavy winds, rain, sleet and even snow.
Locally, the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit kicks off its 23rd season in two weeks with the playing of the Lake County One Man Scramble at Buckingham Golf and Country Club on Feb. 20.. Buckingham PGA professional Mark Wotherspoon and this columnist founded the local circuit in 1994 as a four-tournament entity. Nowadays, it hosts nine open events for scratch, net and senior amateur golfers, two junior tournaments, and a senior competition. However, there is a noticeable change in the Lake County Circuit schedule this year. The Lake County Two Man, the Three Man, the Alternate Shot, and the Lake County Partners have downsized from two-day, 36-hole tourneys to single-day, 18 hole tournaments. Only the Lake County Amateur and the Lake County Open, the circuit’s two oldest events, as well as individual stroke play tournaments will be contested over two days.
Participation has been noticeably down in circuit events during the past three years and a number of local golfers encouraged the circuit’s tournament directors to have more one-day competitions. It is the hope of circuit officials that this schedule change will result in greater participation.
After the One Man on Feb. 20, the circuit hosts monthly tourneys with the Two Man Scramble playing out on March 19, the Match Play being contested on April 2, the Lake County Open scheduled for the weekend of April 30-May 1, the Three Man being held on May 21, the Partners scheduled for June 25, the Lake County Amateur being contested on the first weekend of October, the Alternate Shot scheduled for Oct. 22, and the season-concluding Tournament of Champions on the calendar for Oct. 29. The Lake County Senior is slated for June 4 while the two junior tourneys, the Buckingham Junior and the Lake County Junior, are scheduled back to back on Aug. 1-2.
The circuit has always had its own version of the Fed Ex Cup or the Race to Dubai in the form of the On the Links Golfer of the Year awards. The 2015 circuit year-long champions included golfer of the year Brad Pendletown, senior golfer of the year Craig Kinser, net golfer of the year Rick Easter, and senior net golfer of the year Dr. Bob Jolin.
High school golf kicks off in the next few weeks. Clear Lake High School competes in the Coastal Mountain Conference North alongside Fort Bragg, Mendocino, Point Arena and Willits. Middletown and Kelseyville high schools are members of the CMC South and compete with St. Helena, Rincon Valley Christian, Technology, St. Vincent de Paul and Geyserville. Two St. Helena golfers will be worth watching this year, namely Connor Chesky and Ryan Johnson. Chesky has signed a letter of intent to play college golf at the University of South Carolina next year while Johnson seems to be leaning toward Santa Clara University in the fall. Matt Wotherspoon of Kelseyville High School, a sophomore, should be sectional ready this year following a summer and fall of competitive junior golf tournaments throughout Northern California.
The CMC South plays at Hidden Valley Lake on March 23 while Adams Springs hosts an April 6 match. Aetna Springs is the site for the CMC South’s April 20 match. The CMC North plays twice locally, both times at Buckingham on March 22 and April 26. The junior varsity series visits Adams Springs on March 22 and May 2, is at Hidden Valley Lake on April 19, and makes a return to Black Rock on Cobb Mountain for the first time in over 10 years. The Black Rock match is April 26.
On the local golf course front, Billy Witt has taken on the position of superintendent at Hidden Valley Lake. Witt has previously been on the staff at HVL as well as Langtry and the golf course formerly known as Rob Roy. A recent report prepared by the golf course consulting firm of Baker and Associates had a negative interpretation of playing conditions at the Billy Bell-designed course. I have always seen Hidden Valley Lake as the gem of Lake County golf and yet it was hard to read parts of the report that compared HVL to a “very low end municipal operation.” Another scathing line of the Baker report stated that “ironically, a great deal of money is being spent, but little value is being received.”
Baker and Associates produced a multi-page report that listed some 23 recommendations for golf course improvement at HVL, including a tree management plan, application of best management practices, and getting the best bang for the Hidden Valley buck. Witt has always been very committed to the golf courses he has worked at locally, and while I wish him the best in bringing HVL back to pristine condition, he does have his work cut out for him.
Finally on the golf course superintendent front, longtime Cobb resident Patrick McCarthy has taken the job as the head greens guy at Black Rock. McCarthy has previously served on the greens staff at Adams Springs and Hidden Valley Lake. McCarthy is a good guy and will be an asset to the golfers and owners of Black Rock.
Yes, I know it will be 70 degrees today and with all the rain of late you can bet that the greens will be holding. I won’t be so foolish as to say spring is just around the corner, regardless of what the groundhog says. Nonetheless, ready or not, the earliest stages of the Lake County golf season are just around the corner with the commencement of the Lake County Amateur golf circuit as well as the beginning of the high school golf season.
