SANTA ROSA >> The Coastal Mountain Conference golfing season officially ended on Monday as members of both the North and the South were unable to advance during the North Coast Section Division II Championships at Oakmont West in Santa Rosa.
Only the low nine scorers move on to the NCS Tournament of Champions next Monday at Roddy Ranch in Antioch.
Of the CMC South (St. Vincent, St. Helena and Kelseyville) and CMC North (Willits and Clear Lake) golfers in the field, St. Vincent’s Alex Graham came the closest, firing a 4-over-par 76 on the par-72 Oakmont West course, one that featured lightning-fast green and difficult pin placements on every hole, according to Kelseyville High School coach John Berry, who served as the sectional rules official.
Low round went to Sir Francis Drake’s Devin Gregg with an even-par 72. Three other golfers finished a shot back at 73, two tied with 74, and four others carded rounds of 75, leading to a playoff to eliminate one because only three spots remained into the TOC.
Graham had the low round among the CMC golfers in the field. Teammate Jack Hood was a shot back at 77 as was St. Helena’s Ryan Johnson. The other half of St. Helena’s one-two punch during the regular season, Connor Chesky, was a no-show as were CMC North at-large qualifiers Mike Camacho and Dylan McGuire of Clear Lake.
Kelseyville’s Matt Wotherspoon, an at-large qualifier out of the CMC South, finished with a round of 86.
“He started out OK, but he had an out-of-bounds double bogey a couple of holes in and later a triple-bogey,” Berry said. “He did have one birdie.”
Pleasant weather and temperatures in the low 70s greeted the golfers.
Top finishers at the Tournament of Champions advance to the NorCals on May 23 at Corral de Tierra Country Club in Salinas. The state tournament is June 1 at San Gabriel Country Club in San Gabriel.
