The eighth annual Lake County One Man Scramble Golf Championship was contested this past Saturday at Buckingham Golf and Country Club. Originally scheduled for Feb. 16, the One Man was moved back a week because of the mid-February storms. The One Man is the ultimate mulligan-fest as golfers basically get to hit two shots and take the best one during the entire course of their round from their opening tee shot until the final putt drops.
Juan Lopez of Finley ran away from the rest of the field in recording his victory in both the championship scratch flight and the senior flight. The 52-year-old Lopez carded a 13-under-par 59. He opened play on the front nine with a 6-under-par 30 and did one better on the incoming nine by recording a 7-under-par 29. Golfers of note will tell you that par-3 holes are the most difficult to birdie, and yet Lopez did so on five of Buckingham’s six par-3s. He birdied the second, third, 11th, 14th and 15th holes. When all the scores were tallied, Juan’s scorecard included 11 birdies as well as an eagle-three on the watery par-5 17th hole. His 59 matches the low score in the eight-year history of the One Man.
Finishing second in the championship flight was Hidden Valley Lake superintendent Billy Witt, who carded a 5-under-par 67. In third place was Dylan Harrison of Mount Hannah with a 3-under-par 69.
Senior flight
While Lopez also captured the senior flight for golfers age 50 and older, Jerry Pangle of Lakeport and Jesse Santana of Finley tied for runner-up honors with even-par 72s. Rick Easter of Lakeport was in solo fourth with a 1-over-par 73 while Manny Mendoza of Buckingham rounded out the top five with a score of 74.
Net flight
The net flight of the One Man featured a highly competitive leader board. When the dust finally settled, Peter Wotherspoon of Buckingham and Gary Cisneros of Napa were atop the standings with net scores of 14-under-par 58. In a sudden-death playoff, Wotherspoon birdied the first playoff hole, making an 18-foot putt to secure the One Man net title. Cisneros was second.
One shot out of the net division playoff was the duo of Tim Brown of Lakeport and Todd Colbrandt of Middletown. Brown and Colbrandt finished in a tie for third with 59. Dr. Bob Jolin of Lakeport finished in solo fifth place with 60.
Senior net
In the senior net division, Jerry Tilton of Kelseyville shot a tournament-best score of 16-under-par 56 to win his flight by three strokes. Albert Diaz of Napa finished in second place with 59.
Scot Lamanuzzi of Oakmont in northeastern Santa Rosa carded a 62 while Ted Knowles of Lower Lake finished at 63.
Schedule
Thirty-eight golfers competed in this year’s One Man. The next event in the 26th season of the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit is the Two Man Scramble Golf Championship scheduled for March 23 at Buckingham. Call the Buckingham Pro Shop at 279-4863 for entry information.
