December 22, 2024
GOLF SCENE

Golf hall picks LaMontagne and Anderson Teacher, prot?g? gain honor

Harvey LaMontagne of Paris and Holly Anderson of Kensington, Md., will be the two inductees to the Maine Golf Hall of Fame during the 10th annual ceremony Sept. 13 at the Marriott Hotel in South Portland.

Coincidentally, LaMontagne taught Anderson when he was the pro at Val Halla Golf Course in Cumberland.

“I’m so pleased to see her get in,” said LaMontagne. “She’s a great gal from a good family. I have great memories.”

LaMontagne, 68, has been a Maine professional for 47 years and has played in 52 consecutive Maine Open Golf Championships. He earned Player of the Year honors from the Maine chapter of the New England PGA, and was Maine senior pro champion twice.

LaMontagne has decided to halt the Maine Open streak at 52.

“I’m not competitive any more,” he said.

That doesn’t mean he’s stopped playing, though.

“We play a lot of golf now,” said LaMontagne, talking about he and his wife, Cathy, who is also a pro. “When you’re a pro, you don’t get to play any fun golf, it’s all competitive. Now it’s so much fun to just go play.”

LaMontagne, a Biddeford native, is highly regarded as a teacher and operated golf improvement centers in Maine and Florida. He was honored once as New England Teacher of the Year, five times as Maine Teacher of the Year, and by Golf Digest magazine as its top Maine teacher last year.

He co-founded the Maine Golf Course Superintendents Association and also founded the Maine Pee Wee Open junior golf tournament.

LaMontagne and his wife retired as pros at Paris Hill Country Club this year to concentrate on their business of selling therapeutic magnets and infrared wraps.

“We have some [magnets] for the feet, for the back, some that stick on wherever it hurts,” said LaMontagne. “We also have necklaces and bracelets.”

LaMontagne started the business a few years ago and it has blossomed.

“We have 1,000 distributors [in the U.S.],” said LaMontagne, with more overseas.

“We’re busier, but we can play more golf now,” said LaMontagne.

LaMontagne was pro at several Maine clubs, including Lucerne-in-Maine.

“Those were fun times at Lucerne,” said LaMontagne.

Anderson, 35, has been an assistant pro at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Md., since 1995. She starred at Greely High School in Cumberland, won Maine schoolgirl golf titles in 1983 and ’84, and was New England Women’s Golf Association junior champ in 1985.

At Methodist College in Fayetteville, N.C., Anderson played on four NCAA Div. III national championship teams (1986-89), was the team’s medalist at the 1986 and ’87 championships, and was an Academic All-American three times. She was inducted into the Methodist College Athletic Hall of Fame last year.

Anderson was Southern Maine Women’s Golf Association titlist in 1984, ’86, and ’87, and Women’s Maine State Golf Association champ in 1988.

As a pro, Anderson was Middle Atlantic PGA Women’s Player of the Year in 1997 and 2001 and became the first woman to qualify for a PGA regional club pro championship.

The two inductions will bring to 67 the number of people who have entered the Maine Golf Hall of Fame. The festivities on Sept. 13 will be preceded by a tournament at Sable Oaks Golf Course in South Portland.

The winners from Maine major tournaments this season will also be honored. Registration and tickets for the induction ceremony are available through the Hall of Fame office at 799-0983 or by e-mail at mainegolfhall@hotmail.com.

Special Olympics Golf sessions

Special Olympics Golf, a Maine Golf Hall of Fame project, begins a second season with “Day on the Links” instructional sessions at 3 p.m., July 21, at 13 Maine golf courses.

Olympians will receive lessons and enter contests. Equipment will be provided by the golf courses.

Participating golf courses are: Bangor Municipal Golf Course, Brunswick Golf Club, J.W. Parks Golf Course in Pittsfield, Kebo Valley Golf Club in Bar Harbor, Kennebec Heights Country Club in Farmingdale, Martindale Country Club in Auburn, Presque Isle Country Club, Rockland Golf Club, Sable Oaks Golf Club in South Portland, St. Croix Country Club in Calais, Sugarloaf Golf Club in Carrabassett Valley, Waterville Country Club in Oakland, and York Golf and Tennis Club.

Al Biondi, who founded Special Olympics Golf last year, will host a fund-raising tournament Aug. 26 at Kennebec Heights. To register a team, call 582-2000.

Dave Barber can be reached at 990-8170, 1-800-310-8600, or by e-mail at dbarber@bangordailynews.net.


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