BUCKINGHAM — The 23rd annual Lake County Partners Scramble was contested Saturday at Buckingham Golf and Country Club. Two-person teams playing the best shot of their twosome took advantage of the first pleasant golfing weekend of the season.
Championship flight
Hidden Valley Lake superintendent Billy Witt partnered up with Dylan Harrison of Mount Hannah to capture the championship flight in a runaway, winning by six strokes. Witt and Harrison shot a front-nine 33 and then matched it on their final nine to card a 6-under-par 66. Witt and Harrison’s scorecard featured 10 pars, seven birdies and one bogey. It marked the third time Witt has won the Partners Scramble, having partnered up with John Dunn in 2012 and Shawn Auten in 2016 during past victories.
Although they would win another flight, the team of Peter Wotherspoon of Buckingham and Darren Hostetler of Kelseyville finished in second place with an even-par 72, one shot in front of the duo of Juan Lopez of Finley and Mike Patterson of Riviera West at 1-over-par 73.
Net flight
In the net flight for golfers with handicaps of 10 and higher, Wotherspoon and Hostetler came in first with a score of 11-under-par 61 to win their division by four strokes. Jerry Tilton of Kelseyville and Dr. Bob Jolin of Lakeport came in second with 65, and Gary Cisneros of Napa and Vintage High School golf coach Arvin Persaud carded a 68 to finish third.
Senior flight
In the senior flight for golfers ages 50 and older, Lopez and Patterson shot a 1-over-par 73 and then had to survive a sudden-death playoff to win their division. They tied the team of Jesse Santana of Kelseyville and Manny Mendoza of Buckingham atop the senior leader board during regulation play. Lopez and Patterson made par on the first playoff hole to secure the senior title.
Senior net flight
Santana and Mendoza won the senior net flight by carding a score of 9-under-par 63. Todd Colbrandt of Middletown and Rick Easter of Lakeport finished second with 66 and Rick Tracy of Kelseyville and Ron Garcia of Clear Lake Riviera were third with 68.
Awards
Following the conclusion of play, Buckingham’s PGA professional Mark Wotherspoon recognized the 2018 On the Links golfers of the year. Witt was the golfer of the year for the third time, having previously achieved that honor in 2010 and 2014. Jerry Pangle of Lakeport was the 2018 senior golfer of the year, marking the fourth time in the past six years he has been the top senior linkster. Peter Wotherspoon was the net golfer of the year, and Todd Cobrandt made it three years in a row winning senior net golfer of the year honors.
Schedule
The next event on the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit is the Match Play Championship. It is scheduled for April 6 at Buckingham. Information about the Match Play is available by contacting the Buckingham pro shop at 279-4863.
