The recent warm, sunny weather has raised hopes among eastern Maine golfers that there may be a decent golf season yet this year.

“Friday was packed,” said Pam Foss, co-owner of Pine Hill Golf Club in Brewer, “better than the weekend.”

Brian Enman, head pro at Bangor Municipal Golf Course, was happy, too.

“We had about 570 people over the weekend,” said Enman. “We had about 250 on Saturday and 314 on Sunday.”

The rainy, cold weather hasn’t stopped everybody, though.

Bruce Basinger of Alfred and Adam Sutton, “from outside Boston,” teed off at Bangor Muni in a light drizzle late Monday afternoon.

“We work in the area,” said Sutton, “so we rent an apartment. There’s nothing else for us to do, so we play golf every afternoon at 5 o’clock.

“I don’t think we’ve missed more than two days.”

Basinger added, “It only bothers you as much as you let it.”

Now it seems strange to them when the sun pokes through the cloud cover.

“This weekend, the first tee was packed. We said we should be able to go ahead of them because we’re the ones who are out here no matter what. They didn’t see it that way, though,” said Basinger with a smile.

Sutton, however, admitted later, “It does get a little old after a while, doesn’t it?”

The number of rounds played was off 47 percent in May at Bangor compared to last year, said Enman.

“And last year was nothing to write home about,” he added.

He consulted a loose-leaf binder and pointed out that there was rain on 24 of the month’s 31 days.

“Hopefully, we’ll have a good June, July, and August,” said Enman. “May, that play is already gone. There’s no making that up.”

Enman pointed out that there was a spell of bad weather last summer, which he said would be worse than having it now.

Foss, who at least has been able to get the entire nine-hole course mowed and is allowing carts out, has been personally discouraged this spring.

“I haven’t even brought my clubs down [from home] yet,” she said. “I play my first match Monday and I haven’t even had a club in my hands yet.”

Other aspects surrounding golf activity are affected as well, such as the driving range, lessons, and food and beverage sales.

“The range is open. We have to handpick it, though,” said Enman. “We use a weed puller to pop the balls out of the holes.”

Foss said there may be one positive to come out of the weather.

“We’re a month behind on the fertilizer,” she said. “Normally, we put it on during the second week of May. This year, it’s the second week of June. That should save us some money.”

The applicators did have one wish, though.

“They were hoping for some rain [to wash the fertilizer off the grass and onto the ground],” said Foss.

Not surprisingly, their wish was granted later Monday.

“We’ll try to make the best of it,” said Enman. “We’ll just keep plugging away.”

After realizing what he had just said, Enman added, “No pun intended.”

Maine Golf Hall to induct five

Mike “Fluff” Cowan, a Waterville native and one of the best-known caddies on the PGA Tour, heads the list of five people who will be inducted into the Maine Golf Hall of Fame.

The other members of the class are Mark Fogg, Saul Gerber, Dick Harris, and Ken Raynor. They will bring to 76 the number who have been inducted since 1993.

They will be inducted during a ceremony at the Marriott Hotel in South Portland on Sept. 9.

Cowan was the caddie for PGA Tour player Peter Jacobsen for 18 years, then started with Tiger Woods in 1997, the year he won his first Masters. Later, he started carrying the bag for Jim Furyk, who won the U.S. Open in 2003.

Fogg has been the head pro at Gorham Country Club since 1984 and holds three course records. Among his other accomplishments, he was player of the year for the Maine chapter of the New England PGA in 1992 and ’94.

Gerber, who died in 1993, was editor of The Maine Golfer magazine, tournament director of the Maine Senior Golf Association for 10 years, state father-son champion twice, Maine Amateur finalist in 1952, and New England Senior Amateur runner-up once.

Harris, of Portland, is head of Harris Golf, a retail and golf course company which owns stores in South Portland and Freeport and golf courses Boothbay Country Club, Bath Country Club, and Sunday River Golf Club in Newry. His stints as a PGA pro included Martindale Country Club in Auburn from 1968-94 and Falmouth Country Club, which he helped found, from 1985-98.

Raynor has been pro at Cape Arundel Golf Club in Kennebunkport since 1985 and on the staff there since ’79. He has the added responsibility of taking care of the extra needs of member and former President George Bush, and is a frequent playing partner of Bush.

To make reservations or for more information, call the Maine Golf Hall of Fame at 799-0983.

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