Robert Gautney: Goodvin tops competitive field at RiverLakes
| Thursday, Sep 15 2011 06:21 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Sep 15 2011 06:22 PM
Despite the limited number of participants, the 11th RiverLakes Amateur golf tournament this past weekend at The Links at RiverLakes Ranch turned out to be a hotly contested event.
CSU Bakersfield player Chase Goodvin followed his opening round of 2-under 70 with a 1-over 73 to finish at 1-under-par 143 to win the tournament by a shot over two-time RiverLakes Am champion Ron Killmer, who shot 71-73.
Scott Anderson, who won last year's tournament, looked poised to win a second straight title as he shot a 2-under 70 to tie for the first round lead with Goodvin. But Anderson slipped to a fourth-place finish with a 4-over 76 in the final round and finished at 2-over 146. In between Anderson and Killmer was Mike Yates, who carded rounds of 71-74 for a 145 total to finish third.
Behind Anderson were three players all at 147 -- Jason Johnson (73-74), Nick Mears (75-72) and Steve Roodzant (77-70).
Goodvin vaulted into the lead in the 2011 Michelob Ultra/Sports Authority Player of the Year points race. He earned 20 points for the victory and now has 56 points. Bhavik Patel is second with 52 while Manav Shah is third with 47.
Neither Patel or Shah were able to compete due to college commitments and now the race for the Player of the Year will come down to just the Kern County Amateur in October.
Anderson earned 14 points and now has 44, while Bryan Hogan with 36, Nick Vallejo with 32 and M.J. Morin and Killmer each with 30, all have a chance to win the 2011 Player of the Year title by winning the KC Amateur and in some cases getting a little bit of help.
There were only seven players in the handicapped flight but that didn't detract Kenny Jones from firing net rounds of 69-65 for a blistering 10-under 134 total. He won by six shots over Josue Valenzuela who had net rounds of 72-68. Robert Cavasos, who won the net flight last year, came in third this time with rounds of 68-74 for a 142 score.
Miller red hot for BC women's team
Liberty High product Malea Miller has been on fire the last two tournament s for the Bakersfield College women's golf team.
Monday, Miller won the Western States Conference tournament at the Santa Barbara Golf Club with an even-par 72. But that was pale in comparison to what she accomplished last week.
Miller, a sophomore from Liberty High, shot a BC record 6-under 66 on the Indian Canyon Golf Reserve course in Palm Springs in the opening round of the 10th Desert Classic. Miller led by five shots, but increased that total to an eight-shot win when she fired a final round even-par 72!
The 6-under 138 total was again and 36-hole BC record. Miller has her average at 72.2 through five competitive rounds this season.
Miller, along with BC teammate Cambia Ulrich (81.7) are keeping the BC women in the middle of the pack in the WSC mini tournaments.
College Update
It's hard to keep track of how former local high school and BC players are doing at 4-year schools, but Tee to Green received some nice statistical information on former local stars this week.
Former Garces High player Ellen Krausse, a senior at Northridge, is averaging 77.0 for her first three competitive rounds, while former Frontier High star Tavia Rutherford, now a Freshman at Sioux Falls, S.D., has averaged 78.9 for her first three rounds.
Krausse's rounds came in the 54-hole Circling Raven Invitational in Worley, Idaho, this week where she was the low finisher for the CSUN Matadors (15th place). CSUN finished 5th.
Other local players who haven't played in tournaments yet include Liberty's Diedra Crabtree (Fullerton), Jordanne Barr from Frontier (San Jose State)and Liberty's Katherine James (Augusta State).
Also, CSUB players Lauren Holbrook (Liberty), Micah Lopez (East) and Tammy Park (Stockdale) have not competed in a tournament.
Tee to Green appears weekly at Bakersfield.com/sports. You can reach Gautney at rgautney@bak.rr.com.
