BUCKINGHAM — The brotherly duo of Pete Wotherspoon and Matt Wotherspoon won the 31st annual Lake County Partners Golf Championship on Saturday at Buckingham Golf and Country Club.
The Wotherspoons had a clean scorecard with no bogeys and seven birdies for a 7-under-par 65 and a closely contested two-stroke margin of victory over Juan Lopez of Finley and Billy Witt of Clear Lake Riviera. Lopez and Witt have dominated leader boards on the Lake County Circuit for three decades and yet this was the first time the two played as partners.
The Partners is a fourball or better ball competition with two-person teams. If one player gets a five on the hole and his partner gets a four, then the team score is four. The strategic element of this kind of format occurs when one golfer hits a poor shot, which forces his partner into playing more conservatively. On the other hand, a good shot by one player will allow the other to take a chance with a brilliant shot.
The Wotherspoons birdied the fifth, seventh and ninth holes to make the turn with a 3-under-par 33. Lopez and Witt were one stroke back. While they made four birdies on the front nine, Lopez-Witt also gave back two strokes with a pair of bogeys. On the back nine, Lopez and Witt birdied the 10th hole to cut the deficit to one. Both teams birdied the par-3 11th hole before the Wotherspoons added to their advantage with a birdie-four on the 13th hole. The teams were tied after Lopez and Witt birdied the 14th and the 16th holes. A Wotherspoon birdie on the 17th hole gave the brothers a one-stroke lead going into the 18th hole.
From approximately 130 yards out while on the 18th fairway, Matt Wotherspoon stuffed a wedge to 20 inches. Witt had a long birdie putt that he just missed while Lopez got up and down for par. The Wotherspoons shot 65 while Lopez and Witt finished at 67.
While there have been instances of siblings playing together in previous Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit tournaments, Pete and Matt Wotherspoon are the first set of brothers to win the Partners since 2005 when former Upper Lake High School football coach Craig Kinser teamed up with his brother, Dave, to win this event. Pete Wotherspoon is a graduate of Kelseyville High School’s class of 2010 and was a multi-sport athlete in basketball and baseball while also playing one year of varsity golf. Matt is eight years younger and was a four-time All-Conference golfer at Kelseyville. He followed that up by playing junior college golf at Cypress College and NCAA Division II golf at California State University San Bernardino. Matt graduated from CSUSB last month.
Senior flight
Lopez and Witt won the senior division of the Partners with their 67. Rick Easter of Lakeport and Todd Colbrandt of Middletown finished in second place with a 1-over-par 73. Dr. Bob Jolin and Terry Norwood, both from Lakeport, finished third in the senior flight with a 77.
Net flight
In the net division for golfers with handicaps of 10 and higher, Norwood and Jolin posted a net score of 56 to eke out a one-stroke victory. They finished ahead of the father-son team of Jeremiah Valador and son Luke, who just finished fourth grade. The Valadors shot 57. Five strokes farther back at 62 was the team of Mel O’Meara and Rob O’Hara as well as partners Brian Castro and Daniel Been.
Schedule
The Lake County Circuit holds its pair of junior tournaments during July with the playing of the Lake County Junior at Adams Springs Golf Course on Cobb Mountain on July 19 followed by the Buckingham Summer Junior on July 24 at Buckingham. Entry forms for both tournaments are available in the pro shops at Buckingham, Adams Springs and Hidden Valley Lake.
The next tournament on the local circuit for all ages is the Lake County Amateur Golf Championship. This marks the tournament’s 40th anniversary and it takes place Aug. 26-27 at Adams Springs. Entry forms are currently available at all three Lake County golf courses.
