COBB — Austin Pritchard of Hidden Valley Lake made it two tournament wins in two days by capturing the overall boys championship Tuesday during the 26th annual Lake County Junior Golf Championship at Adams Springs Golf Course on Cobb Mountain.
Pritchard, who won the Buckingham Summer Junior on Monday at Buckingham Golf and Country Club, returned 24 hours later to Adams Springs and prevailed in the Lake County Junior. An all-conference golfer at Middletown High School, Pritchard carded a 7-over-par 41 on Adams Springs’ front nine to jump out to an eight-stroke lead over Middletown teammate Andrew Martz of Cobb. Although Pritchard wasn’t as sharp on the inward nine, he did card a back-nine 45 for an 18-hole total of 86. Currently playing in the 14-15 age division, Pritchard will have two more chances to add to his junior tourney win total in Lake County. He finished a comfortable nine strokes in front of Martz.
Martz finished second overall with a score of 95 but did post the best score in the 16-17 division. It was the second year in a row that the incoming Middletown High School senior won his age division. Cory Holt of Clear Lake Riviera, the No. 1 golfer at Kelseyville High School, finished in third place overall with a score of 101. Holt will have very little time for golf the remainder of the summer as he is slated to be the starting quarterback for Kelseyville High’s varsity football team, with official practice commencing Aug. 5.
Boys
In the boys 14-15 division, Miles Mattina of Lakeport carded an 18-hole score of 114 to win his age bracket. Mattina is a member of the Clear Lake High School golf team and also won his age division in the Buckingham Summer Junior. His teammate, Nathon Lopez of Finley, finished in second place with a score of 126. Two strokes behind Lopez was Lander Hockett of Clear Lake Riviera, who finished third with a score of 128. Hockett is a Kelseyville High School incoming sophomore who was on the KHS golf team this past spring.
Charles Johnson of Kelseyville was the winner of the 12-13 flight, shooting a 116 for 18 holes. Entering seventh grade at Mountain Vista Middle School, Johnson has now played in eight Lake County Junior tournaments, having first played in the 10-11 flight as a 6-year-old. He has now eclipsed former KHS golfer Nick Schaefer in the longevity mark as Schaefer played in seven Lake County Juniors.
Ethan Gambill of Clear Lake Riviera won the 10-11 division with a nine-hole score of 65. He also won his age division in the Buckingham Summer Junior on Monday. Billy Witt of Clear Lake Riviera finished second with a round of 68.
Girls
In a hotly contested girls division, Sarah Parlee of Lakeport shot 106 for 18 holes to win the overall girls championship. Parlee is a student at Kelseyville High School and will be on the golf team at KHS next year. Maddie Witt of Clear Lake Riviera, a three-time Lake County Junior champ, finished in second place with a score of 110.
A total of 12 golfers played in this year’s Lake County Junior Golf Championship, which was sponsored by the Clearlake Callayomi Masonic Lodge, the Black Rock Golf Club, the Adams Springs Golf Club, Adams Springs’ owners Eddie and Linda Mullins, and John and Julie Berry.
Tournament volunteers serving as walking marshals and rules officials included Jack Lucich, John Flynn, Jerry Pendleton, Jim DeCristofaro, Armond Urbano, Dennis Layton and Al Mankins.
