Recent Cal State San Bernardino graduate as well as a member of their golf team, Matt Wotherspoon, overwhelmed the rest of the field to win the 40th annual Lake County Amateur Golf Championship this weekend at Adams Springs Golf Course on Cobb Mountain. The Amateur is the longest running golf tournament of note in Lake County and the 23-year-old Wotherspoon won it for the second time, having also captured the title in 2020.
Wotherspoon began his opening round slowly as he stood at 2-over par through the first seven holes. He then made back to back birdies on the par four eighth and ninth holes to make the turn with an even par 34. A chip-in birdie on the difficult par four 10th hole got Matt to under par and he reeled off three more birdies on the 16th, 17th, and 18th holes to card a 4-under par 30 on the back nine. His 18 hole total of 4-under par 64 gave Wotherspoon an 11 shot lead going into Sunday. Defending champion Billy Witt, the superintendent of Hidden Valley Lake Golf Course, was in second place with a 75 while Jerry Pendleton of Lakeport and Jerimiah Valador of Kelseyville were tied for third place with matching 77s.
It was more of the same on Sunday morning as Wotherspoon carded a 2-under par 66 to post a 6-under par aggregate score of 130 to win the Amateur by a dazzling 19 shots. He played safe golf, using a four iron to tee off on most of the long holes in an effort to keep his tee ball in place. The strategy was obviously successful as his second round scorecard included three birdies and an eagle. His 130 total matches the tournament record that he initially set while winning in 2020. Wotherspoon plans on spending the next two years living locally and playing in regional amateur tournaments.
Jerry Pendleton finished second overall with scores of 77 and 72 for a 149 total. He finished ahead of the rest of the golfers in the senior division to secure that title. Juan Lopez of Lakeport had a 151 aggregate with round of 78 and 73. Lopez is also a senior golfer and he finished runner-up in the senior division and in third place overall. Pete Wotherspoon of Buckingham carded rounds of 78 and 75 for a 153 total. The older Wotherspoon finished in fourth place. Billy Witt had a second round score of 80 and finished with a 155 total to secure third place among the over-50 set and fifth place overall. Jerimiah Valador came in sixth place after shooting scores of 77 and 79 for a 156 total.
In the net division for golfers with handicaps of 10 and above, Adams Springs’ superintendent Jim DeCristofaro played steady golf for two days while posting net score of 67 and 64 for a 131 net total to win the Amateur’s net title. Todd Colbrandt of Middletown finished in second place after carding net scores of 69 and 72 for a 141 total. John Langan of Lakeport had a 144 total with net rounds of 74 and 70 while Mike Bailey of Lakeport and Ted Knowles of Kelseyville were one shot back with net totals of 145 to round out the top five.
In the senior net division, Adams Springs Golf Course owner Eddie Mullins used his local knowledge while shooting net scores of 72 and 61 to post a total of 133. The 78 year old Mullins owns a 22 handicap and shot an 83 on Sunday to leap over the rest of the senior net field. Rob O’Hara of Kelseyville had net scores of 76 and 65 for a 141 aggregate and a second place finish in his division.
A total of 31 golfers entered this year’s Lake County Amateur. The Amateur field historically has a top notch field of local golfers and such was the case this year. On a feel good note, gift certificates totaling $1500 were awarded to the golfers who placed in the four flights, and all of the golfers who received those prizes donated them back to the Adams Springs junior golf program.
The Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit takes the month of September off and concludes its 10 tournament season in October with the playing of the Lake County Alternate Shot Tourney on Saturday, October 10 to be followed by the season concluding Lake County Tournament of Champions on Saturday, October 24. Both tournaments will be contested at Buckingham Golf and Country Club.
