Players’ feelings mixed on Maine Amateur change

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BOOTHBAY – Feelings are about split on the return of stroke play next year to decide the Maine Amateur Golf Championship.

“Everybody knows I don’t like match play,” said Shawn Warren of Windham, who won his Round of 32 match Wednesday at Boothbay Country Club against Nick Pelotte of Waterville 5 and 4.

Warren was the low qualifier after two rounds of stroke play Monday and Tuesday, two strokes ahead of Jason Gall of Augusta. The next-closest players were six strokes back.

Warren wants very much to win the Amateur, but a pro career may limit the chances the 20-year-old Marshall University student has remaining.

“If things go well, Portland [Country Club] may be my last one,” said Warren. “To go out on a course I love and [at] stroke play would be great.”

The length of the tournament has been a key consideration in two ways.

“You have to play good, solid golf for a lot of rounds,” said Warren.

The other consideration is the time commitment, potentially five full days for both players and the host club.

“It’s hard to plan for five days [away from work],” said Jeff Wass of Rockland.

Mark Plummer of Augusta, who has won 13 Maine Amateurs at both match play and stroke play, thinks the change will be good, even though he likes the idea of match play.

“This is a little bit too long,” said Plummer of the five-day setup. “And it’ll be a lot easier getting golf courses.”

“A three-day tournament just makes more sense,” added Plummer.

Two-time defending champion Ricky Jones of Thomaston is happy playing either way.

“Match play is fun because you know where you stand when you play,” said Jones, “but other than that, no [no preference].”

Jones has won the last two, and three of the last five, Whited Ford Paul Bunyan Amateur Golf Tournaments, which is 54 holes of stroke play over three days.

Cash Wiseman of Scarborough, who lost to Jones in the championship match last year, definitely prefers match play.

“In match play, everybody has a chance to win.” said Wiseman. “In medal play, you know who the best players are. It’s the same 15 people. You just need three good rounds [to win].”

Wass, though, said, “I like stroke play better. I think it rewards the guy who is more consistent. In match play, one bad shot means you’re only one hole down.”

He would like to see one more change.

“I’d like to see 36 [holes] the last day,” said Wass. “The New England Amateur does it that way.”

Joe Alvarez of Bangor said, “Stroke play shows the better player, but match play is more competitive.”

Alvarez was happy that match play wiped out the nine-shot lead Warren had on him after the two qualifying rounds.

“If this was stroke play, I’d be hurting,” he said.

Bangor area best in New England

Greater Bangor is rated by Golf Digest as the best area in New England overall for public golfers and ranks second in the country in terms of access to golf.

Golf Digest ranked the country’s 330 Metropolitan Statistical Areas with a population in excess of 50,000 in terms of four criteria: access to golf, number of play days per year, average green fee, and quality of golf.

Bangor ranks 115th out of the 330, Portsmouth-Rochester, N.H. (which includes the Kittery area) ranks 186th, Portland is 228th, and Lewiston-Auburn is 260th.

Auburn-Opelika, Ala., is No. 1, while Jersey City, N.J., is 330th. Las Vegas, Nev., is 218th, Los Angeles is 246th, and New York City is 329th.

The full results are published in the August issue of Golf Digest.

Women’s Senior Golf Tour

Two LPGA Hall of Famers will be participating in next month’s BJ’s Charity Championship at Granite Links Golf Club at Quarry Hills, seven miles south of Boston.

Sandra Haynie and Carol Mann have committed to play in the Women’s Senior Golf Tour event Aug. 5-7. A pro-am will be held Aug. 5 followed by 24 two-player teams competing over 36 holes the next two days.

Also in the field is 19-time LPGA Tour winner Sandra Palmer, who grew up playing golf at Lucerne. Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez will participate in the pro-am.

The WSGT, the official senior tour of the LPGA, conducts a limited number of events each year and the BJ’s Charity will be this year’s third and final.

Single-day tickets are $10 and three-day passes are $25. Call 617-721-3931 for tickets.

Record roundup

The annual Tin Mountain Round-up at Sugarloaf Golf Club on July 3-5 pulled in a record 2,100 cans of food items, the largest food drive in the event’s four-year history, according to a press release from communications manager Bill Swain.

One weekend each season, Sugarloaf allows golfers to play the course for $30 when they donate three cans or more of food.

The food is donated to the United Methodist Economic Ministry, which distributes the food to families in the Sugarloaf area.

Sugarloaf does the same thing in the winter for its skiers, who contribute nearly 3,000 cans in return for discounted lift tickets.