By John Berry
Although Lake County is fairly remote and has a relatively small population, it does have a very active golf scene. Home to just one 18 hole golf course with a brand new clubhouse as well as a pair of nine holers, all three golf facilities have competitive memberships. There is also a county-wide golf circuit that just completed its 30th season of tournament golf. A private golf course at the south end of the county is coming closer and closer to completion and has recently hired a PGA golf professional. The top small school high school golf team came from Lake County. Finally in light of its colorful golf history, the inaugural class of seven local linksters was inducted into the Lake County Golf Circuit Hall of Fame.
Hidden Valley Lake Golf Course is located at the south end of Lake County. It is the area’s only 18 hole golf complex. Its brand new clubhouse opened this year and it is a solid upgrade from the old facility. It has a spacious pro shop, restaurant and bar, and various meeting and banquet rooms. The new building took up part of the 1st hole teeing area which resulted in a shorter, less difficult opening hole. Nonetheless this beautiful Billy Bell design maintains an active golfing scene under the coordination of HVL’s Director of Golf Richard Pritchard.
Reinstated amateur Kane Lack is this year’s Hidden Valley Lake club champion. The senior club champ at HVL is Fred Luper while their Nine Hole champion is Pete Gascoigne. The women’s club champion at Hidden Valley Lake is Teresa Sand while longtime HVL resident Debbie Marshall prevailed in winning the Nine Hole club championship.
Buckingham Golf Course is located at the base of Mount Konocti in Kelseyville. Located in a beautiful setting on the Buckingham peninsula, the course is a great test of golf management skills. You don’t have to be a bomber to succeed at Buckingham, but you do need to keep the ball in play and you do need to be able to putt its challenging greens. The PGA professionals at Buckingham are Director of Golf Mark Wotherspoon and head professional Ted Matilla.
Matt Wotherspoon played four years of competitive college golf, first at Cypress College and then at California State University San Bernardino. Matt returned to Lake County after the spring semester at CSUSB just in time to win the Buckingham club championship. Juan Lopez was the senior club champion while Manny Mendoza was the super senior club champ. Debbie Kellner won the women’s club championship this year.
Adams Springs Golf Course is located on Cobb Mountain and has made a great recovery from the devastating Valley Fire of September 2015 with a brand new clubhouse that opened in 2022. A clever nine hole course designed by noted golf course architect Jack Fleming, Adams Springs is another one of those courses that requires exacting ball placement off the tee. Its greens require a solid putting stroke. Eddie Mullins is the owner of Adams Springs.
Brian Bechtol won the club championship at Adams Springs this past summer. Richard Hoffman was the net club champ. Jerry Pendleton captured the senior division at Adams. Mike Bailey showed true grit in winning the Directors Cup net flight. Debbie Meadows won the women’s club championship for the third time while Rebecca Cabral was the net club champion.
The Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit celebrated its 30th season of operation by hosting 10 open tournaments as well as a senior championship and two junior tourneys. Matt Wotherspoon was the On the Links golfer of the year with victories in the Lake County Open, Lake County Amateur, the TOC, the Three Person, the Partners with his brother Pete, and the Match Play. Simply put Matt Wotherspoon is far and away the area’s top golfer. Juan Lopez was the senior golfer of the year with wins in the Senior Amateur, the Senior Two Person, the Senior Partners, and the Senior Three Person. Rick Easter was the net golfer of the year and had net victories in the Lake County Open and the Alternate Shot with long time partner Todd Colbrandt. Dr. Bob Jolin was the senior net golfer of the year and found the top spot in the senior net division of the Senior Amateur, the Partners, and the Three Person. The Lake County Circuit was founded by Buckingham pro Mark Wotherspoon and this columnist.
This past spring a very talented Middletown High School golf team under Coach Todd Williams captured the Coastal Mountain Conference crown and advanced to the North Coast Sections at Rooster Run in Petaluma. All-conference golfers on the MHS golf team included Dom Williams, Cooper Johnson, Bodhi Moore, and Blake Costlow. Jackson Conley secured second team honors. Dom Williams received the inaugural Distinguished Golfer Award from the coaches while Cooper Johnson won the 36 hole CMC Championship at Windsor and the Valley of the Moon. MHS returns its entire lineup for 2024 and will be a formidable team in the spring.
The Lake County Amateur Golf Circuit took a big leap forward and decided to initiate a local Hall of Fame for those golfers of note who have had great success on the local circuit. The inaugural class which was inducted in late April included Juan Lopez, Billy Witt, Craig Kinser, Dr. Bob Jolin, Rick Easter, Todd Colbrandt, and this columnist, John Berry. Yes, once upon a time I used to have game. The next class of local golf honorees will be named in April of 2024.
The Brambles Golf Course is moving closer to completion and has recently hired a PGA professional to serve as its Director of Golf. The course’s turf is getting closer to maturity and golf course architect and course founder James Duncan is hopefully looking towards a soft opening sometime in 2024. A private facility with a strong Bay Area membership, The Brambles is located near the old glider port, just east of Highway 29 and south of Hidden Valley Lake. Its clubhouse is complete as are the vast majority of the holes. Tyler Marcotte is the superintendent. Duncan works under the umbrella of Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore.
Finally, Cooper Johnson won this summer’s Lake County Junior championship while Sofia Arredondo won the Girls’ Junior. Sofia, who is now a freshman at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, also was the girls’ champion at the Buckingham Summer Junior while Patrick Seau of Santa Rosa was atop the leader board at the Buckingham Junior in the boys’ division.
Best wishes to all of our golfing friends and readers for a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
