March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Maine Open 5 tied at Me. Open

PORTLAND – Five players are tied for the lead after the first round of the $30,000 Maine Open Golf Championship at Riverside Municipal Golf Course here Wednesday.

Pros Brian Schindler of Sanford, Jeff Grygiel of Syracuse, N.Y., Jeff Julian of Rutland, Vt., and Mike SanFilippo of Nashua, N.H., and amateur Mike McCormick of Warwick, R.I., share the lead at 6-under-par 66.

Three players are another stroke back. Bob Darling of Lewiston, Bob Kay of West Dover, Vt., and David Ladd of Boynton Beach, Fla., each turned in a 67.

Another 10 players – led by Maine pros Tim Angis of Portland, Mike Baker of Bangor, and Ron Smith of Kennebunk Beach – are tied at 68.

The field of more than 200 players is so bunched that more than a quarter of the field – 53 players – recorded scores under par.

Grygiel, who won the 1983 Greater Bangor Open, but who has had limited tournament experience the last three years, was happy with his score, but knows he will have to play better.

“I played the par-4’s awful, and that’s the whole tournament,” said Grygiel.

Grygiel made the turn at 2 under par, then knocked off three more strokes with an eagle on the par-5 10th and a birdie on the par-3 11th.

“I just missed a hole-in-one by three inches,” said Grygiel.

He birdied the next hole, then parred in, despite a number of par-4’s which are within easy wedge range of the solidly built long-ball hitter.

“I have a great score waiting to happen,” said Grygiel.

Julian made his score the opposite way, the hard way.

He made the turn on the tougher front nine in 31, but could only muster a 35 on a back nine which includes two par-5’s which are reachable in two shots.

“I had some good chances, but I couldn’t make them,” said Julian.

“It’s a good score, but not a great score,” he added.

After Thursday’s round, the field will be cut down to the low 64 and ties for Friday’s shootout for the $5,000 top prize.


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