COBB — Coastal Mountain Conference South favorites St. Helena and Middletown picked up right where they left off last season Wednesday afternoon, finishing one-two in the conference opener on the par-68 Adams Springs course on Cobb Mountain.
In a race that went down to the wire a year ago, Middletown edged out St. Helena for the CMC South title on the final day of the regular season. Those two teams remain the clear favorites as the 2022 season gets under way.
“The two top teams by far,” Kelseyville veteran head coach John Berry said of the Saints and defending South-champion Mustangs, who have a new coach this year in Craig Swehla. “Their kids are going to be below 100 most of the time.”
Renn Vothof led St. Helena and a South field that consisted of 27 golfers representing six teams with a score of 81. The Saints finished with 361 (the total of their four low individual rounds) while the Mustangs came in second with 375, led by Luke Hoogendoorn’s 88.
Technology finished third with 402, Kelseyville was fourth with 473 and Credo and Victory Christian were both incomplete (fewer than four golfers).
The late-winter match took place in spring-like conditions, with sunny skies and the temperature in the low-60s, according to Berry.
“It was a beautiful day,” Berry said. “We got around the course in four hours, 15 minutes, which isn’t bad.”
Other Middletown scores had Cooper Johnson at 95 and Austin Guzman and Dom Williams at 96. For match host Kelseyville, Lander Hockett had 113, Lizzy Malaspina finished with 116, Michael Wiser with 117 and Nate Sherman with 127.
Technology’s Sebastian Maurice carded a 88 to lead the Rohnert Park school.
The CMC South meets again Thursday at Sugarloaf in Santa Rosa (formerly Oakmont East).
