TRACY >> Not even swarming wasps near the tee box on the third hole could deter the 16 golf teams taking part in the Tracy High School Invitational on Monday afternoon at Tracy Golf and Country Club.
“The tournament was delayed for about 15 minutes for frenzied wasps,” Kelseyville coach John Berry said. “It looked like a tornado of wasps.”
No one was stung and tournament officials avoided any problems by moving the tee area up about 50 yards.
Kelseyville finished ninth overall in the 16-team field with a score of 489 (combined five low individual rounds out of six). The Knights might have placed a bit higher but were missing one of their top players, Mike Beverlin, who was away on an excused absence.
Granada won the team title with 405, Amador Valley came in second with 429 and Hughson was third with 437.
With the thermometer popping 90 degrees and a two-club wind to contend with, only four golfers fired rounds in the 70s and Kelseyville’s Matt Wotherspoon was one of them with a 5-over-par 77. Nick McClendon and Jason Takemura, both of Granada, finished first and second, respectively, with rounds of 75 and 76. Nate Rockwell of Escalon carded a 78.
Other Kelseyville rounds that counted the team total were 95 by Jon Vanderwall, 96 by Dylan Escobedo, 107 by Cory Holt, who had one birdie, and 114 by Lalo Sepulveda. Wotherspoon also had a birdie.
“It’s a good experience for the kids, a beautiful course,” Berry said. “They do a nice job on the tournament.”
From a competitive standpoint, Berry said the Knights, who are currently second in the Coastal Mountain Conference South standings behind St. Vincent and fighting for an at-large berth in next month’s North Coast Section playoffs, benefit greatly from the increased competition they face at tournaments such as Tracy.
“It’s another good, competitive tournament to get us a little more hardened,” Berry said. “We see a lot of valley schools at this tournament and we don’t face them very often.”
Next up for Kelseyville is the first half of the CMC South Championships on Thursday at Windsor Golf Club.
