Brian Lawton is returning home after three years working as an assistant pro and playing tournaments in Florida.

Lawton is taking over as head pro at Felt Brook Golf Center, the nine-hole facility in Holden.

“I’m excited; looking forward to being back, playing the great Maine golf courses, and seeing people,” said Lawton.

Lawton, 33, had planned to be back at least in New England this summer when the Felt Brook position came his way.

“I was thinking about coming back to play the New England Tour,” said Lawton. “The money’s real good. It’s $10,000 to win.

“I was thinking about playing or getting a position [in Maine], then I’d go to Florida for three months.”

Bob Sparks, co-owner of the golf course with his wife Linda, heard that Lawton was interested in returning to Maine and decided to pursue the 1996 Greater Bangor Open champion.

“I heard he was looking to come home,” said Sparks. “I started chasing him, making phone calls.”

Sparks started talking to Lawton more than a month ago, and they came to an agreement three weeks ago.

“I feel very fortunate to have him,” said Sparks.

Lawton is replacing Mark Hall, who has taken the job as scorer for the Maine State Golf Association’s Central Division.

While the other nine-hole golf courses in the Bangor area don’t have pros, Sparks is committed to having one.

“If you want to be considered one of the best, you have to have a pro,” said Sparks, then added, “The driving range alone dictates having a pro.”

Besides his work at the club, Lawton can still play in tournaments.

“We want Brian to be a playing pro,” said Sparks. “We want him playing in the leagues with the members, we want him representing the club at tournaments.”

Lawton, who also won the 1992 Bangor Daily News Amateur (now Paul Bunyan Amateur), is eager to accommodate Sparks in that regard.

“This will be good because he wants me playing in the Monday [Maine chapter of the New England PGA] pro-ams and the GBO and other tournaments,” said Lawton. “It’ll be the best of both worlds – I get to play competitive golf here as well as have the shop and give lessons.”

Lawton is hoping for a better year of tournament action than he had last year on theGolfTour.com.

“I had a poor season, my worst ever,” said Lawton.

He’s still suffering from pain in his right wrist caused by an elongated bone that sometimes rubs against the cartilage and tendons.

“I missed three tournaments because of that, but I’m not making any excuses,” said Lawton.

“When it gets inflamed and swollen, it looks like a golf ball on top of my wrist.”

“Sometimes it bothers me a lot. I just have to rest and wait for the swelling to go down.”

He’s been seeing specialists for it, but the only other option is surgery.

“The first [specialist] I went to wanted to take a piece of bone off, but even then it wouldn’t be 100 percent because of my golf motion, so I decided against it.”

That won’t stop him from playing, though.

“I really missed playing here, seeing my golfing friends, the people I competed with in junior golf,” he said.

Will he issue a challenge to his former competitors now that he’s back?

“I’m not going to do that. It’ll come back to bite me,” said Lawton, chuckling.

Scholarship deadline

Applications to the Maine State Golf Association Scholarship Fund must be completed and postmarked no later than April 1 for the 2002-03 collegiate school year.

Requirements for applying to the fund are an active interest in golf (playing, caddying, or working at a golf shop or course); financial need; a graduate or prospective graduate of an accredited Maine secondary school; and outstanding character, integrity, and leadership as demonstrated by participation in extracurricular, civic, and/or community activities.

Scholarships awarded last year were in the amount of $1,000 per year of undergraduate study to a maximum of $4,000 for four years.

The MSGA Scholarship Committee will make the final selection from among the applicants.

For more information, call the MSGA office at 846-3800 between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. or go to the Web site at www.mesga.org.

Dave Barber is the NEWS golf writer. The Golf Scene will appear each Wednesday through September. He can be reached at 990-8170 or by e-mail at dbarber@bangordailynews.net.