September 20, 2024
HIGH SCHOOL GOLF

Calais, Hermon golfers win titles Smith, Duplisea tops in state

VASSALBORO – Just as soon he was handed the trophy for winning the Class C state golf individual championship Saturday, Jonathon Smith bolted through the jam-packed clubhouse at Natanis Golf Club and out the door.

The Calais junior, it seems, was in a state of shock. Shocked that an 80 on the Arrowhead course could win a state championship.

“I can’t even believe it. I don’t know what to say. I was just standing there waiting for them to call somebody else’s name,” Smith said sitting the golf course veranda.

Smith was aided by high winds and temperatures that were better suited for pond hockey than golf. The conditions were tough and kept the scores above par.

Hermon’s Adam Duplisea and Cape Elizabeth’s Ron Kelton shared the Class B title with 3-over par 75s, also on the Arrowhead course.

Meagan Angis of Thornton Academy in Saco shot an 82 on the Tomahawk layout to win the girls’ championship.

Only Shawn Warren, the Class A champion, flirted with shooting a red number. The Windham senior fired an even-par 72 on Tomahawk after a double bogey on the 14th, his finishing hole in the scramble start.

Smith couldn’t point to anything that stood out in his game.

“I played pretty good except for the last four holes. The wind started getting to me a bit,” Smith said.

Smith, like Warren, double bogeyed his final hole, the 11th, and left the course feeling that he’d blown any chance of winning.

“I thought I had to be low to mid-70s to have a chance at this and I can’t believe an 80 won it,” Smith said.

Matt Altvater of Shead in Eastport finished fourth with an 82 while teammate James MacDonald shot an 86 and finished in an eighth-place tie with Dave Chrisos of Bangor Christian in Class C.

Duplisea said the wind played a major factor in the scoring.

“I just tried to play through it. I try to do my best and whatever happens, happens,” Duplisea.

While the junior was low key about his game, Hermon coach Ned Collins said that Duplisea played an intelligent round of golf.

“He managed the golf course. He played a lot of irons off the tee. I think that’s what saved him. He played a very smart game today in the wind. It was rough conditions out there I feel he played extremely well,” Collins said.

Duplisea might have won the Class B title outright but someone put a cover on the cup on his last hole. His birdie putt on number one lipped out.

His blips came when he missed a five-foot putt for par on the 11th hole and bogeyed the par-4, 240-yard ninth hole when his tee shot went right.

“Other than that I hit it pretty straight and pretty well,” Duplisea said.

Dan Dalfanso of Camden Hills in Rockport finished in a tie for third in Class B with a 76, Jesse Johnson of Belfast fired a 77 and placed sixth and Brady Butler of Camden Hills tied for 10th after shooting a 79.

Angis took the “safe” approach to her round.

“It started out cold in the morning but the last seven or eight holes the wind picked up and it just wasn’t very fun. I tried to keep it low, out of the wind. I played it safe and tried to keep everything down the middle,” the senior said.

Emily Little, a senior at Mount Desert Island High School, finished fourth with a 92, Ashley Card-Burns of Orono was seventh with an 101, Meaghan Curasru of Ellsworth shot 103 and was eighth and Vanessa Layton of Bangor Christian was 10th after shooting an 107.

The championship has been something Warren would rather forget about in the past.

“I try and like play this tournament down as much as I can every year because it always ends up disappointing me,” Warren said.

But Warren pulled off the win in his fourth try. Warren ran off four birdies in his first seven holes and was 2-under par going into the final hole when he double-bogeyed.

“Isn’t that something,” Warren said. “I ended up trying to play a little too conservative maybe on the back nine. Had a couple of bogeys and a double on the last hole. But all in all I thought even par was a pretty good score out there.”

Warren’s 72 was four strokes better than Mike Doran of Mount Ararat in Topsham. Lance Libby of Messalonskee of Oakland was third with a 77. Bangor’s Zach Adair finished in a tie for 10th with an 81.


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