Robert Gautney: BCC's Bell, Cox qualify for SoCal 4-Ball Net Championship
| Wednesday, Aug 26 2009 09:20 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Aug 26 2009 09:22 PM
By ROBERT GAUTNEY
Contributing golf columnist
Bakersfield Country Club members Brian Bell and Joe Cox secured the first local entry into the Southern California Golf Association's 4-Ball Net Championship when they fired an 8-under 64 to finish equal 10th in qualifying at Simi Hills Golf Club in Simi Valley on Aug. 25.
Cox and Bell will advance to play at the Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook Sept. 28-29 against 63 teams from all over Southern California.
Two other local tandems competed but were not able to score at least a 65, which would have placed them into a playoff for the last spot of 16 positions up for grabs.
The Kern County Fireman's GC with Carl Brooks and Tim Lillard shot a 67 to tie for 23rd while Pine Mountain Club's Ron Gauvin and Everette Richardson shot a 73 to finish 47th.
The 4-Ball Net is a better-ball scoring where each player receives handicap strokes according to their index. Hence, if a player is a 10 handicap, they receive a single handicap stroke on the 10 hardest holes.
There are three other qualifying tournaments, two on Aug. 31 and one on Sept. 8, which will determine the final 48 teams for the championship.
PATEL ALIVE AT US AMATEUR
If you are reading this today (Thursday) after noon PST, then local star Bhavik Patel likely will have completed his second-round match against Brad Revell from Canada in the United States Amateur Championship at Southern Hills GC in Tulsa, Okla.
Patel advanced into match-play by shooting rounds of 74 and 69 on Monday and Tuesday in stroke play to tie for 20th position and then displaced Patrick Rada from Anderson, S.C., 3 and 2 in the opening round of match-play Wednesday.
If Patel were to beat Revell in round two, he would face either Scott Langley from St.Louis, the No.7 seed, or No.26 seed Marcel Puyat from The Phillipines, a match that would start a 12:05 PST.
FERNANDEZ 5TH AT OAK VALLEY IN AJGA
Stockdale High golfer Pete Fernandez, Jr., shot rounds of 72-68-73 at the Oak Valley GC in Beaumont to finish fifth from a field of 102 top junior players in an American Junior Golf Association tournament last week.
With the finish, Fernandez earns exempt status to any open AGJA tournament through the 2009-10 season.
KERN COUNTY WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Entries are being accepted through Aug. 31 for the 73rd Kern County Women's Amateur Golf Championship.
The tournament is Sept. 9-10 at Haggerty-North Kern and Rio Bravo CC with the awards luncheon following play at Rio Bravo.
Entry is $125 and includes greens fees, cart rental, range balls, awards and the luncheon. Entry forms can be obtained at all local courses and pro shops.
The tournament is open to females age 16 and over who have an established USGA index at a Kern County golf course. The maximum allowed index is 36.3. Call 246-6157 for more information.
Last year, Meggan Bellows shot rounds of 85 at Foss-Kern River then a 75 at Sundale CC to win her first County title. Suzanne Clarksean shot 84-80 to finish four shots back.
Bellows' win marked the seventh straight first-time winner since Jeanette Cleveland won three in a row from 1999-2001.
The 36-hole record is 147 by Allison Martin in 2002 while the 54-hole record is 7-under 216 by Lisa Kiggens in 1990. The tournament has been 36 holes since 1993.
CHIP SHOTS
-- Entries for the 9th RiverLakes Amateur Championship, which will be Sept. 26-27 at The Links at RiverLakes Ranch, are now being accepted. Call 587-5465 for more information including flights, cost and deadline.
-- The Kern County Dinner of Champions that was scheduled for October after the KC Men's Amateur has been cancelled for 2009. The event was to be a golf tournament with the dinner following at Bakersfield Country Club, but organizers were only able to come up with around 50 players on short notice. The club needs 80 players, so the event will be next year after the KC AM. The Kern County Scholarship Foundation was formed to continue the champions dinner tradition that George Culver started in 2000 and to award scholarships to local high school and college student/golfers. I am sure with a full year to facilitate, the event will be a huge success next year.
Tee to Green appears weekly at Bakersfield.com/sports. You can reach Gautney at: rgautney@bak.rr.com
