COBB >> Kelseyville High School’s senior trio of Matt Wotherspoon, Jon Vanderwall and Mike Beverlin powered the Knights to a 328-330 victory over the previously undefeated St. Vincent Mustangs in a Coastal Mountain Conference South match on Thursday afternoon at Adams Springs Golf Course on Cobb Mountain.
It was St. Vincent’s first CMC South loss since Middletown beat the Petaluma powerhouse six years ago at Hidden Valley Lake. The Knights made the most of their home course advantage just as Middletown did in 2012 at Hidden Valley, according to Kelseyville coach John Berry.
“I’m really happy with the way my three seniors played,” Berry said. “I think I’m going to miss those guys next year.”
Wotherspoon fired the day’s low round, a 1-over-par 69 that included five birdies. After firing a 37 on the front nine, he was nearly unstoppable down the stretch, shooting a 2-under-par 32 on the back nine.
Jon Vanderwall and Mike Beverlin were on their games as well, according to Berry. Vanderwall carded a 80 and Beverlin was one shot behind him at 81.
“It was really impressive, a nice step up for both of them,” Berry said.
Dylan Escobedo’s 98 rounded out the Kelseyville team total.
While ruining St. Vincent’s bid for a third straight perfect CMC South season, the Knights also solidified their hold on second place in the conference standings, which will help them in their bid to secure an at-large berth into the North Coast Section playoffs beginning on May 7.
“Beating St. Vincent will look good on our application,” Berry said.
Despite recent rainfall and snow on Cobb Mountain, groundskeepers were able to mow the grass before Thursday’s round.
“We’ve had snow up here three times in the last week,” Berry said. “There were some soft spots but the course played OK.”
Wotherspoon played in a foursome that included Geyserville’s Carson Kalbfleisch (74), St. Vincent’s Justin Peck (77) and Middletown’s Derek Coulter (86). They all led their teams in scoring.
Middletown finished third behind Kelseyville and St. Vincent in team scoring with 362 while St. Helena was fourth with 390. Technology, Stony Point and Geyserville all had incomplete teams (fewer than four golfers) while Credo’s team was a no-show.
Besides Coulter’s 86 for Middletown, other Mustangs scores had Andrew Martz at 91, Josiah Pyzer at 92 and Austin Pritchard at 93.
Through five CMC South matches, St. Vincent leads the pack with a 34-1 record followed by Kelseyville and 30-5, Middletown at 26-9 and St. Helena at 20-15.
Kelseyville is on the road Monday to compete in the Tracy Invitational. The next CMC South match is April 26 at Windsor Golf Club, which is round one of the CMC South Championships. Round two is May 1 at Oakmont West in Santa Rosa.
