Vermont golfer takes lead in second round

PORTLAND – Jeff Julian had a little time to kill Thursday afternoon, so he decided to watch a little television.

That’s not unusual, except at the time, Julian was in the middle of his second round of the $30,000 Maine Open Golf Championship at Riverside Municipal Golf Course.

What Julian saw was providential, though.

“I had a tape of the Masters, with Ben Crenshaw putting, but I didn’t have a VCR to play it in,” said Julian, of Hartland, Vt. “When I went in at the turn, Crenshaw was on and they showed him making a 6-footer. That was just what I needed.”

Julian, who had started the day a stroke behind leader Mark Carens of Winter Springs, Fla., struggled at the start of the round, making bogeys on the first two holes. He parred the rest of the holes on the front nine, but was still 2 over par for the day.

“I had that image of him on the back nine, and that’s just what I needed,” said the 34-year-old Julian.

Julian two-putted for birdie on the first hole, drained a 25-footer for birdie on the second, a 20-footer for birdie on the next hole, then a 45-footer from the fringe on four for his third birdie in four holes.

The 1992 Greater Bangor Open champion added another birdie from 20 feet on No. 8, and saved par by sinking a tough putt on the final hole.

“That positive mental image is amazing,” said Julian. “Every putt on the back was right at it or close.”

The strong second nine gave Julian a 2-under-par 70 Thursday for a two-day total of 8-under 136. He leads Carens by one stroke and four others by two strokes entering Friday’s final round.

The cut was 2-over-par 146 for the pros and 152 for the amateurs and Maine pros.

“I feel good to have a bad day and still be in there,” said Julian, who is confident about his chances in the last round. “Tomorrow (Friday) I’ll have plenty of good things to work on.”

Julian said he has been playing well.

“I’ve been having a good year all around,” said Julian. “I was second in the New Hampshire Open, and I won the Vermont Stroke Play Championship, our chapter tournament.”

After winning the GBO, Julian remarked how he preferred to stay in the north because of his love for hockey and the fact he liked to take time off from golf.

His focus has changed now.

Julian, who works as an assistant pro at The Quechee Club in Quechee, Vt., has been working hard on getting his PGA Class A card and expects to get it by this fall, but he also will take the first road out of town if he qualifies for the PGA Tour.

The problem is money.

“The club is sponsoring me this year – the state opens, the U.S. Open,” said Julian, who missed the cut at the U.S. Open by three strokes.

He doesn’t have sponsorship set for next year, but he’s work He doesn’t have sponsorship set for next year, but he’s working on it.

“Somebody, a friend of mine who has a business in Florida, has already offered to sponsor Tour school,” said Julian, but it will take more than that.

“I have to keep sniffing around for it,” said Julian. “It’s $3,000 for Tour school, and then there are the other expenses, so it works out to about $6,000. That’s a lot of dough.”

The $5,000 top prize would go a long way toward defraying those expenses, but that’s earmarked for something else, another consideration that can’t be shunted aside easily.

“The family gets that,” said Julian. “You’ve got to have a little nest egg set aside.”