PETALUMA >> The Coastal Mountain Conference South made its first appearance at Petaluma Country Club on Monday afternoon, leaving the Kelseyville Knights and Middletown Mustangs to slug it out for second place in the standings.
While undefeated St. Vincent (21-0) won the day with a team score of 353 (combined total of the four lowest individual rounds), Kelseyville claimed second place with 375 followed by Middletown with 390, St. Helena with 415, Credo with 511 and Geyserville, Stony Point and Technology all incomplete (fewer than four golfers).
Kelseyville and Middletown entered play tied at 11-3 and the Knights’ runner-up finish pushes them ahead of the Mustangs through the first three South matches.
Only a handful of the golfers in the field had ever played the private par-70 course before, according to Kelseyville coach John Berry.
“Some of the St. Vincent players have parents who are members,” Berry said. “Matt (Wotherspoon) went down and played the course with his dad (Mark, the PGA pro at Buckingham Golf and Country Club),” Berry said of his senior standout and one of the top junior golfers in Northern California.
“It’s a hilly course, a nine-hole course with a lot of elevation changes,” Berry said.
Between a lack of course familiarity, a three-club wind that was blowing up against the hillside layout, and some fast and tricky greens, scores were a bit high, according to Berry.
“The kids had a hard time judging where the winds were coming from,” he said. “And there were some tough putting on those greens.”
Kelseyville’s Wotherspoon and St. Vincent’s Graham Giles tied for the low round, a 10-over-par 80, while Geyserville’s Carson Kalbfleisch fired a 83. Kelseyville’s Mike Beverlin finished with 87 and Derek Coulter led Middletown with 89.
Petaluma Country Club, normally closed on Mondays, was opened up by its members to allow the CMC South golfers their first crack at the course.
“It was a replacement for Aetna Springs on our schedule,” Berry said of the Napa course that recently closed its doors. “Hopefully we can keep coming back.”
Other Kelseyville scores had Jon Vanderwall at 98 and Maddie Witt at 110. Besides Coulter, Middletown’s leaders were Austin Pritchard with 94, Andrew Martz with 99, and Quentin Crayne with 108.
St. Vincent, Kelseyville and Middletown are entered in the Ukiah Invitational next Monday. CMC South golf resumes April 12 at Meadowood in St. Helena.
