PETALUMA >> Matt Wotherspoon’s round of 81 led the Kelseyville Knights and Derek Coulter’s 84 paced the Middletown Mustangs during a Coastal Mountain Conference South golf match on Wednesday at the par-72 Rooster Run course in Petaluma.
It was the conference opener for all seven South teams. Besides Kelseyville and Middletown, St. Vincent, St. Helena, Technology, Geyserville and Rincon Valley Christian are members. Rincon Valley Christian wasn’t present on Wednesday because of the school’s participation in the NorCal basketball playoffs.
Low round of the day went to St. Vincent’s Justin Peck with 6-over-par 78. Peck’s squad posted the team win as well with 330 strokes. Middletown was next at 387, Kelseyville had 436 and St. Helena 456. Technology and Geyserville were incomplete (fewer than four golfers).
“It was a beautiful day,” Kelseyville coach John Berry said. “The scoring conditions were tough with the course setup. The greens were extremely quick and the rough was thick and gnarly.”
Berry said nearly one-third of the field was playing its first high school match, which helped produce some high scores.
“The scores were a little higher than anticipated, even among the more experienced players,” Berry said.
Besides solid rounds from Peck, Wotherspoon and Coulter, Technology’s Teo Melo, a foreign exchange student from Ecuador, finished with a round of 81, and veteran Carson Kalvfleisch of Geyserville carded an 83.
“St. Vincent is the class of the league,” Berry said of the defending CMC South champions. “Middletown has got a pretty good core and Kelseyville is as good as Matt Wotherspoon plays.”
Wotherspoon’s team-leading round for Kelseyville included two birdies. Coulter had one birdie for Middletown.
Hayden Sust and Quentin Crayne of Middletown finished with rounds of 93 and 99, respectively.
“It was a good start to the season,” Berry said.
The CMC South returns to action next Wednesday at Foxtail South in Rohnert Park at 1 p.m.
