Thea Davis, the pro at Hermon Meadow Golf Club, was 11 years old when she started playing golf.

“Both parents golfed,” said Davis, but for a long time she didn’t get any formal instruction in the game.

Plus, she said, “I was really stubborn. I thought I was good enough that I didn’t need any.

“It was 20 years before I took any lessons. When I did, it opened up the whole game for me.”

Davis thinks people should do it differently now.

“Young people who start with taking lessons are way ahead,” said Davis.

With just such a goal of introducing girls ages 8-17 to golf, the Abnaki Girl Scout Council in Brewer is getting a program under way in conjunction with the LPGA and Hermon Meadow Golf Club. Davis is one of the site directors along with Cathy Willey of Southwest Harbor.

The LPGA Girls Golf Club of Hermon is one of more than 80 around the country, but the only one in Maine.

“We’ve had responses from quite a few girls, and we haven’t even had our first meeting yet,” said Lucy Eaton Hawkins, director of development and public relations for the Abnaki Council. The council administers all of Aroostook, Penobscot, Washington, Hancock, and Waldo counties and a large part of Somerset County.

The responses have come from girls in Fort Kent, Presque Isle, and Machias as well as closer to Brewer.

The rules state that the club needs a membership of at least 25 girls to participate, but Hawkins doesn’t see that as being a problem.

“We had done an interest survey, and we got about 50 responses,” said Hawkins. “I think we’ll get a good response, especially since we’ll offer it to girls outside of scouting.”

Gary Rees, the pro at Dexter Municipal Golf Course, had run a program the past two years with more than 20 girls participating each year, but the LPGA decided to move away from nine-hole courses and work with 18-hole clubs instead.

“I felt bad we couldn’t continue,” said Rees. “It’s a good program. I’m glad they’re doing it.”

There is still groundwork to be done through the fall and winter before the club comes to complete fruition, but Davis is looking eagerly to when she can actually begin working with the girls.

“I want to share my passion for the game. I just love it,” she said. “At this stage, I love teaching more than playing.”

And to Davis, what golf can teach a person involves more than playing a game.

“Golf teaches me about life,” she said. “There’s a beginning and an end and obstacles to overcome in between.”

Willey, according to Hawkins, doesn’t even play golf, but she sees the social as well as competitive opportunities for girls who do.

Many business contacts are begun or established through shared golf experiences, and Hawkins is one of many who believes many young women have missed business opportunities because they didn’t play golf.

“Opening opportunities for girls is what scouting is all about, and I think that’s what Cathy’s interest is,” said Hawkins.

Girls who don’t have their own equipment can still participate, according to Hawkins.

“We hope to have donated junior and women’s clubs,” said Hawkins. “It’s an expensive sport, but I think the enjoyment the girls get out of it will be well worth it. But I hope to subsidize it so they won’t have a large expense out of their own pockets.”

Anyone interested in getting more information can contact the council at 989-7474.

Salinettis visited Bangor often

For Jim Salinetti of Lee, Mass., this year’s appearance in the 35th Greater Bangor Open was his first.

The trip to Bangor was not.

“I’ve been coming through Bangor for 40 years,” said Dick Salinetti Saturday after his son won the GBO.

Dick Salinetti went to St. Mary’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and that’s where he met his wife, Judy. A native of Canada, she was attending Sacred Heart, a women’s college in Halifax.

Over the years as they traveled back and forth to Canada, Bangor became one of their stops, with the Paul Bunyan statue holding special interest.

“The kids over the years would ask, ‘When are we going to see Paul Bunyan?’ I’d say, ‘Soon, soon.'” said Dick.

“Jimmy’s been climbing on the Paul Bunyan statue since he was 2 years old,” said Judy.

Coincidentally, one of the awards given to the GBO winner is a souvenir statue of Paul Bunyan.

Dick said, “We have pictures of all the kids with Paul Bunyan. Now we have our own to look at.”