Juan Lopez of Finley won the 23rd annual Lake County Senior Amateur Championship this past Saturday at Buckingham Golf and Country Club. The 53-year-old Lopez is still very competitive on the Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit’s championship flight, but for this one instance, Lopez was one of the younger golfers in the field for competitors aged 50 and above.
Playing under cool and blistery conditions with ever changing winds that sometimes affected shots by as much as four clubs, Lopez opened up with a front nine score of five over par 41 to take a four shot lead over his nearest competitors. A rock solid three over par 39 on the back nine resulted in an eight over par 80 for Lopez who won the Senior Amateur for the first time. His lone birdie of the day occurred on the par five 4th hole early in his round. Juan remarked after his round that it was an extremely tough day because of the weather conditions and he was just trying to make pars and avoid big numbers on his scorecard.
Three strokes behind Lopez in second place was Dr. Bob Jolin of Lakeport. Jolin opened up with a 45 on his front nine and caught fire over the course of the back nine to card a two over par 38. His round was highlighted by a birdie three on the long and difficult par four 18th hole. Jolin ended up shooting an 83 to finish runner-up. Defending Senior Amateur champion Norm Rentsch of Finley was in solo third place with a score of 85. Past Senior Am champ Rick Easter of Lakeport was in fourth place with a 91 while Todd Colbrandt of Middletown rounded out the top five with a score of 93.
In the senior net flight, Jolin’s 83 with a 20 handicap was stellar enough to not only card a net score of nine under par 63, but also more than enough to win his flight by 10 strokes. Jolin was the only golfer in the field to post an under par score. He is a past Senior Am net champion, having won the title in 2005 and 2011. Of course with a round of net 63, Jolin’s handicap will plummet four or five strokes in the coming days. It’s all about the fairness of the USGA/NCGA golf handicap system.
Second place in the senior net flight went to Mel O’Meara of Lakeport with a solid net score of one over par 73. It was O’Meara’s highest finish in a Lake County Circuit event. Tied for third place were Bruce Forsythe of Lakeport and Leo O’Farrell of Kelseyville. Both golfers turned in scores of net 76. Finishing in fifth place was Ken Kellner of Buckingham who carded a net score of 78. One week ago, Kellner finished in second place in the Lake County Senior Match Play.
The Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit is still in the process of rescheduling the Lake County Open, originally scheduled in April, and the Lake County Three Man that was postponed in May. The circuit will soon be announcing the new dates for those tournaments.
