BANGOR – Corey Poulin of Skowhegan, Jesse Speirs of Bangor, Toby Spector of Waterville, and Ross McGee of Fairfield head the list of 23 players who will be vying in the northern New England qualifier of the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship at Bangor Municipal Golf Course today.

First-round play begins at 7 a.m., with the second round scheduled to start at noon.

The winner of the 36-hole tournament earns a trip to the Publinx Championship at Shaker Run Golf Club in Lebanon, Ohio, July 11-16.

The tournament is open to amateur golfers who, since Jan. 1, have been public course players and have not held playing privileges at any course which does not extend playing privileges to the general public. Players must have a handicap index of 8.4 or lower.

Poulin finished as runner-up in the recent Whited Ford Paul Bunyan Amateur Golf Tournament, Speirs won the Bunyan in 2002 and ’03 and was runner-up in the 2002 Greater Bangor Open, Spector won the Bar Harbor Bank and Trust Open earlier this month, and McGee came in tied for third in last year’s Publinx qualifier.

Shawn Warren of Gorham, winner of the last two regional qualifiers, is not participating this year. Neither is Ricky Jones of Thomaston, last year’s runner-up and winner of the Bunyan in 2001, ’04, and this year and the Maine Amateur the last two years.

The wild cards this year are the large number of players, 10 out of the 23, from outside northern New England (Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont). While qualifiers are located around the country, interested participants can sign up to play in any qualifier.

This year’s field includes players from Quebec, Philadelphia, Texas, Maryland, and New Jersey.