BUCKINGHAM >> It was a very Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde weekend atop the leader board at the 25th annual Lake County Open Golf Championship at Buckingham Golf and Country Club.
Reinstated amateur Brad Pendleton of Lakeport defended his title, winning the Open for the fifth time in six years, by carding a 147 total. He never shot a round in the 70s. Runner-up Adam Giusti of Santa Rosa, an All-Conference golfer at Kelseyville High School as well as a member of the Santa Rosa Junior College NorCal championship team of 2006, did much the same as he returned a 36-hole total of 152 without ever shooting in the 70s. It ended up being a weekend for past champions as well as inconsistent play.
Championship flight
Pendleton opened play Saturday morning and shot an 80 to sit alone in third place, six shots behind two-time Lake County Junior champion Matt Wotherspoon and two shots behind four-time Lake County Open champion Juan Lopez of Finley. Giusti struggled even more than Pendleton on Saturday as he suffered through a penalty-ridden first round and found himself 10 shots out of the lead at 84.
Yet Sunday was another day and Pendleton and Giusti took full advantage. Both golfers returned front-nines scores of 2-under-par 34. During the course of the final nine, Pendleton carded a 3-under 33 while Giusti shot another 2-under 34. Pendleton ended up running away with the Lake County Open title by five strokes as he recorded scores of 80-67 for a 3-over-par 147. His round included six birdies and one bogey.
Giusti finished in second place after posting scores of 84-68 for a 152 aggregate. He had four birdies, an eagle and a pair of bogeys. Neither golfer could explain the variance in score over the two days except to say that they had limited penalty strokes and, in some cases, left the driver in their bags and safely played woods and hybrids to keep their tee shots in play.
Wotherspoon and Lopez had second-day struggles and finished in third and fourth place, respectively. Wotherspoon ended up shooting 74-83 for a 157 total while Lopez came in at 78-80 to finish one stroke behind Wotherspoon with 158.
Dylan Harrison of Mount Hannah rounded out the top five with some degree of consistency, shooting 82-82 for a 164 total.
Senior flight
In the senior flight for golfers ages 50 and older, Craig Kinser of Lakeport continued his domination of this Lake County Open division by winning for the third consecutive year and for the seventh time overall. He opened play Saturday with a solid 77, shot a second-round 84 Sunday and still cruised to a 161 aggregate and a nine-stroke margin of victory.
In second place was Lakeport resident Jerry Pangle, who shot 86-84 (170). Lake County Senior Match Play champ Rick Easter of Lower Lake shot 89-82 to finish one stroke behind Pangle at 171.
Net division
In the net division for golfers with handicaps of 10 and higher, Joe Del Prete of Kelseyville shot a 72 on Saturday and made up a five-shot deficit while recording a 66 on Sunday. His 138 total was good enough to eek out a one-stroke victory over Scot Lamanuzzi of Buckingham.
Lamanuzzi held the first-round lead with 67 and came back with an even-par 72 on Sunday for a 139 total. Chad Menshew of Cobb recorded net scores of 81-76 for a 157 total while Todd Colbrandt of Middletown shot rounds of 81-78 for a 159 total.
Ken Kellner of Kelseyville posted scores of 81-82 for a 163 aggregate and fifth-place finish.
Senior net division
In the senior net division, Lamanuzzi, the net runner-up, prevailed over the senior field in style, winning by six strokes over Manny Mendoza of Buckingham. Mendoza shot net rounds of 70-75 for a 145 total.
Ted Knowles of Kelseyville had an 81 on Saturday but rebounded with a 70 on Sunday to finish third with 151. Leonard Lea of Clear Lake Riviera came in fourth with scores of 78 and 77 for a 155 total.
The Lake County Open featured a field of 24 contestants. The next event on the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit is the Lake County Three Man Scramble, which takes place May 21 at Buckingham. Entries are available by contacting the Buckingham pro shop.
