Spector still leads by 5 over White Waterville golfer seeks sixth straight title today

ORONO – If Martha White had a dilemma, which she says she doesn’t, it would be this: Wednesday, during the second round of the 71st Women’s Maine State Golf Association Championship, the 13-time-champion of the tourney fired a 1-over par 75. That’s four strokes better than White shot during Tuesday’s first round. And she didn’t pick up a single stroke on leader Abby Spector.

Spector also shot 75 to go along with a first-round 74 for a 1-over par total of 149 at Penobscot Valley Country Club and will carry the same four-stroke lead she began with into today’s final round of the 54-hole tourney.

But again, it’s not a dilemma. White says she didn’t enter Wednesday’s round looking to pick up ground on Spector, who has won five straight WMSGA titles.

“I didn’t and I don’t expect to. On the other hand if you look at my score yesterday and compare it to today, I have picked up some ground for me. That’s what I’m focused on.”

But the opportunity was there to make a move Wednesday. It presented itself early when Spector had trouble off the tee and White capitalized.

She birdied the par-4, 396-yard first hole when she stopped her second shot three feet from the hole to cut the lead to three. Then the Hermon native picked up another on the par-5 third with a par as Spector again struggled off the tee, pulling a driver into a tree row down the left side of the fairway, leaving herself with no shot to the green.

Waterville’s Spector then dropped another stroke to White on the par-3 fourth when she three-putted. It could have been worse but White’s putt for birdie just missed.

After yet another poor drive on the fifth hole, Spector took time to have a meeting – with herself. She waited until her playing partners and gallery had cleared the tee area and stood in the tee box alone. And although Spector appeared calm enough, her blood had come to a boil.

“I don’t know what I was doing [wrong],” the 20-year-old Spector said. “I just needed to calm down a bit. I was pretty upset there. After two bogeys, one on three and one on four, and, I just needed to calm down, let everybody get ahead and take a deep breath.”

The meeting may have calmed Spector down but it didn’t solve all of her problems. She played giveaway-takeaway with White for the remainder of the front nine.

Although she slammed her second shot to within two feet of the flag for a gimmie birdie, she again stumbled on six when her long, winding downhill putt rolled well past the cup and she ended up three-putting for a bogey.

On the 443-yard, par-5 seventh hole, Spector’s tee shot found the center of the fairway. While White and the third member of the group, Alyssa Hayes of Cape Elizabeth, came up short on their second shots, Spector blasted a 7-wood 180 yards to within seven feet of the pin and made the eagle putt.

“That’s my favorite club,” Spector said. “I usually hit that one pretty well. I have a lot of confidence in it.”

Again, though, this wasn’t the usually consistent Spector. She turned around and gave both strokes back on the eighth with a double-bogey and then made the turn in 39 after a bogey on nine.

White turned around and gave five strokes back to Spector with bogeys on the first three holes on the back nine.

“I made some poor club decisions on 10, 11 and 12,” White said. “If I had gone with the club that I thought I should have gone with rather than taking a risk and trying something else I probably would have been fine.”

And Spector began crushing the ball off the tee . Her drive on 13 was more than 250 yards. Successive drives appeared to be just as long and were well placed in the fairway. Additionally, Spector found consistency in the rest of her game as well, closing out the round with four pars in a row and a birdie on 18.

White bounced back from her early troubles on the back nine to record four pars and two birdies in the final six holes. One of the birdies came on a 45-foot putt on the 17th hole.

“It’s great to play with Martha,” Spector said. “I don’t get to play with her very much. She’s a wonderful lady and a great competitor.”

Hayes had putting problems throughout much of the round and finished the round with an 82 for a two-day total of 164 and in a tie for third place with Tiffany Shoppe of Lamoine.

Shoppe will join Spector and White for today’s final pairing at 12:30 p.m.

White’s sister, Pennie Cummings of Lewiston, shot an 82 for a two-day total of 165 and is in fifth place.