BUCKINGHAM >> Matt Wotherspoon shot a 1-under-par 71 to win the Buckingham Summer Junior Golf Championship on Monday. It was his fourth consecutive victory in the Buckingham Junior. An incoming senior at Kelseyville High School, Wotherspoon is also the reigning Coastal Mountain Conference MVP as well as the Marin County Junior champion.
Wotherspoon began his round with a bit of a hiccup as he double-bogeyed the par-4 opening hole. However, he immediately righted the ship and ran off seven consecutive pars and closed out his front nine with a birdie on the par-5 ninth hole. He concluded the front nine with a 1-over-par 37.
On the back nine, Wotherspoon ran off birdies on the 12th, 13th and 16th holes while recording one bogey to card a final-nine score of 2-under-par 34. His 1-under-par 71 is just the second under-par round in the long history of the Buckingham Summer Junior (Nick Schaefer shot 66 in 2008).
Wotherspoon attributed his success on Monday to his ability to stay mentally in the moment. He stated that he “wasn’t going to let that double-bogey on the first hole affect the rest of my round.”
Less than 24 hours after a fourth straight win in the Summer Junior, Wotherspoon will be attempting to add a fifth consecutive Lake County Junior Golf Championship victory to his resume. He tees off Tuesday morning at 8 a.m. at Adams Springs Golf Course on Cobb Mountain.
Derek Coulter, an All-Coastal Mountain Conference golfer at Middletown High School, shot 85 to win the boys 16-17 age division at Buckingham. Coulter also started out slowly but he was able to make a nice recovery during the final nine holes while making birdies on the 13th and 16th holes. Jon Vanderwall, a second-team All-Conference golfer at Kelseyville High School, shot 101 while his Kelseyville teammate, Michael Beverlin, finished play with 106. Christian Hicks of Middletown High School was next at 118.
Dylan Escobedo, a soon-to-be sophomore at Kelseyville High School, shot 114 to win the age division for boys ages 14-15.
Girls
In the girls division, Sarah Parlee of Lakeport shot a nine-hole score of 58 to win her third consecutive Buckingham Summer Junior title. Maddie Witt, a member of the boys team at Kelseyville High School, carded a 65 to finish in second place.
Boys 8-11
In the flight for boys ages 8-11, Charles Johnson won his third consecutive age division title with a nine-hole score of 59. Eight-year-old Billy Witt was runner-up with 73.
Tourney field
Ten junior golfers competed in this year’s Buckingham Summer Junior. The tournament was sponsored by the Buckingham Tournament Players Club, the Buckingham Ladies Club, and the Buckingham Niners.
Tee times
Tee times for Tuesday’s Lake County Junior at Adams Springs have Coulter, Beverlin and Wotherspoon teeing off at 8 a.m., Vanderwall and Brenden Allen teeing off at 8:08 a.m., Witt, Andrew Martz and Austin Pritchard teeing off at 8:16 a.m., and Johnson, Witt and Landon Johnson teeing off at 8:24 a.m.
