Robert Gautney: Ladies' scores were sizzlin' in this year's Kern Am
| Wednesday, Sep 16 2009 09:47 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Sep 16 2009 10:46 PM
Contributing golf columnist
When I opened The Californian last Thursday and saw the scores for the first round of the Women's Kern County Amateur, I thought it must have been a misprint.
A record-tying round and seven -- count 'em -- seven women had shot in the 70s!
Then I remembered what 2008 champion Meggan Bellows had said before the start of the tournament, that there would be a few rounds in the 70s at North Kern, but that Rio Bravo was going to be a little tougher.
Too bad Bellows didn't have her golf game match her prediction. But come to think of it, Bellows shot six shots better this year than she did in winning last year, so you can't really fault her game.
Just give kudos to the 2009 winner -- Ashley Neal and first-round leader Sara Ansolabehere and the top of the field for that matter.
Neal shot a 71 in the first round at NK, then followed up with a solid 76 at the tougher Rio Bravo Country Club to finish at 147, which tied the 36-hole tournament record set by Allison Martin back in 2002.
Ansolabehere shot a 70 in the first round, which tied for the best round in the history of the tournament. Lisa Kiggens shot a 70 in the opening round in 1990 on her way to a 7-under 216 finish when the event was 54 holes.
Although Ansolabehere could only muster a 79 at Rio Bravo, her total of 149 would have won every 36-hole Women's KC Am except this year and 2002, when Martin won.
Throw in the 154s by Bellows (76-78) and Dana Arneson (75-79), and it was simply the best overall scoring KC Women's Am ever. In fact, Susan Erickson was at 156 and Ellen Krause finished at 159. That's six gals better than 160 and the most prior to this year was two on only two occasions.
I guess it bodes well for the state of our young female players in our area as Neal, Bellows and Arneson play for CSUB, Ansolabehere is a senior at Chico State and Krause is a sophomore at BC. All played high school golf here.
And just think, in two years, perhaps the best of the young female golfers in our area -- Meghan Shain -- will be eligible to showcase her talents and her 2-and-improving handicap.
In all, there had been 17 rounds of 78 or better in the previous 72 tournaments and eight of those were by Kiggens and two were by Martin. This year there were a total of 12!
Hopefully this will inspire our young sports-minded girls to get involved in golf and to at least give it a try. Soccer, softball, volleyball and such are great sports, but there are scholarships to be had for good female golfers, too. And it's a game for a lifetime!
Well done ladies, and a super great job by Ms. Neal.
SEYMOUR MISSES OUT ON TOP 64
Bakersfield's Jim Seymour shot rounds of 77 and 78 in the U.S. Senior Amateur this past weekend.
Seymour finished equal 104th out of a field of 156 players who had qualified for the national finals for amateur 55 and over. It took a score of 155 to get into a playoff for one of the 64 spots and into match-play.
Eleven players went to a playoff for the last eight spots.
The 18-hole finals will be today, when Marvin "Vinny" Giles of Richmond, Va., squares off against his former Walker Cup teammate in John Grace from Fort Worth, Texas. Giles had qualified 16th while Grace was the No.7 seed.
Giles will be attempting to become only the second player to win both a U.S. Amateur and a U.S. Senior Amateur as Giles won the Amateur title in 1977.
DOVERSPIKE WINS OUTLAW CUP
Former Stockdale High star and current Fresno State senior Grant Doverspike won the 10th Outlaw Cup College Invitational last week with a three-round score of 11-under 205. Doverspike shot a final round 66 and the 11-under set a new event record as he held off his FSU teammate Mike Gideon and Riverbend's Danny Paniccia by four shots.
MOULTON MAKES LONG DRIVE FINALS
Former Bakersfield resident Mike Moulton ripped a drive 369 yards to finish equal third in one of the Regional events in Maricopa, Ariz., in the ReMax World Long Driving Championship.
Moulton now advances to the world championships at the end of October in Mesquite, Nev.
RIVERLAKES AMATEUR ENTRIES
Entries are still being accepted for the 9th RiverLakes Amateur Championship which will be Sept. 26-27 at The Links at RiverLakes Ranch.
Players can enter by calling the RiverLakes pro shop at 587-5465 or in person in the pro shop. Deadline is Thursday, Sept. 24.
The tournament is one of the Sports Authority/Michelob Ultra Player of the Year events in which players can earn points towards the 2009 Player of the Year title.
Last year, Bhavik Patel set a tournament record with a 7-under 137 total with rounds of 67 and 70. The 67 was also an opening-round record. Ron Kilmer owns the final-round record with a 69 in 2003.
CHIP SHOTS
* Qualifying is over for the SCGA 4-Ball Net Championship and only one team from Bakersfield will be competing in the finals at the Pala Mesa Resort -- Brian Bell and Joe Cox from Bakersfield Country Club. Bell and Cox qualified at Simi Hills with a 64 and will play Oct. 1-2 in the championship finals at the 36-hole Pala Mesa Resort.
Tee to Green appears weekly at Bakersfield.com/sports. You can reach Gautney at: rgautney@bak.rr.com.
