BUCKINGHAM >> Brad Pendleton of Lakeport won the 20th annual Lake County Match Play Championship this past Saturday at Buckingham Golf and Country Club. Pendleton, who contemplated turning professional at the end of last year, has put those plans on hold for the time being and is still competing locally on the amateur level.
Pendleton drew Riley Adams of Hidden Valley Lake as his first round opponent for the second year in a row. He jumped out to an early lead with under-par golf and ended up defeating Adams by a 7 and 6 margin (seven shots up with six holes remaining). In the other championship flight match, Hidden Valley Lake superintendent putted brilliantly and also recorded birdies on the front nine to take an early lead over Lake County Junior champion Matt Wotherspoon. Witt defeated Wotherspoon by a 7 and 6 margin.
In the championship finals later that afternoon, Pendleton continued to play outstanding golf and took an early four-hole lead into the back nine. Witt almost aced the par-3 14th hole and his birdie-two cut into Pendleton’s lead. On the long par-3 15th hole, Pendleton hit the middle of the green while Witt was in the grove of trees to the left of the green. Witt was unable to get up and down for par and Pendleton two-putted from 18 feet to close out the match with a 4 and 3 margin of victory. It was the third Match Play title for Pendleton, who also took home the title in 2012 and 2015.
Senior flight
In the senior flight for golfers age 50 and older, Jerry Pangle of Lakeport, the reigning On the Links senior golfer of the year, held off Bobby Iversen of Kelseyville, winning by a final tally of 2 and 1. In the other senior match, defending champion Rick Easter beat Kelseyville High School golf coach John Berry by a 3 and 1 margin.
In the senior finals, Easter took an early lead of 2-up through the first 12. That’s when the match took on a roller coaster effect as Pangle won the next three holes with pars to go 1-up on Easter. However, Easter returned the favor and ran off wins on the 16th and 17th holes to go back to 1-up. On the 18th hole, Easter sunk an 8-foot putt on the final green to match Pangle and win the senior division by a 1-up margin.
Net flight
In the net flight for golfers with handicaps of 10 and higher, Tim Brown of Cobb won his first-round match against neighbor Chad Menshew with a 3 and 2 victory. Dylan Harrison of Cobb prevailed over Jason Laveglia of Kelseyville by a 2 and 1 margin.
The net finals had a degree of history as Harrison and Brown are longtime friends who attended the same high school in North Carolina. Friendship aside, Harrison took an early lead and secured an early victory with a 7 and 5 win over Brown.
Senior net
In the senior net division, Todd Colbrandt of Middletown defeated Rick Tracy of Kelseyville, winning their opening match 6 and 4. Ted Knowles of Kelseyville had an intense back-and-forth match with Dr. Bob Jolin of Lakeport, finishing their 18-hole match tied. On the first playoff hole, Knowles’ par was good enough to advance to the senior net finals match against Colbrandt.
In the championship match, Colbrandt continued his winning ways, played steady golf in the afternoon, and prevailed against Knowles with a 7 and 6 victory.
Open up next
The next tournament on the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit schedule is the region’s second oldest stroke play tournament, the Lake County Open. The Open is scheduled for the weekend of April 29-30 and will be contested at Buckingham Golf and Country Club. Tournament information is available by contacting the Buckingham pro shop at 279-4863.
