Bunyan is on despite the rain Jones seeking 3rd straight title

“We’re hoping to get one round in. I don’t know what’ll happen if we don’t get any in,” said Skip Chappelle, tournament director for the 42nd Whited Ford Paul Bunyan Amateur Golf Tournament.

The opening round of the three-day event kicks off today with three divisions distributed among Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono, Kebo Valley Golf Club in Bar Harbor, and Rockland Golf Club, and several straight days of rain have left the clubs praying for a reprieve.

“We got 11/2 inches yesterday, an inch today, [we’re supposed to get] an inch tomorrow night, and another inch on Saturday,” said Rockland pro Keenan Flanagan.

That reprieve appears unlikely until possibly on Sunday with occasional showers forecast for today, heavier rain tonight and Saturday, and possibly only partly sunny skies on Sunday. The forecast also calls for daily high temperatures to range from the high 50s to mid-60s.

There is no plan yet to call off play, though. The course rotation for the three flights is Kebo today, Rockland on Saturday, and PVCC on Sunday for the A flight; PVCC, Kebo, Rockland for B; and Rockland, PVCC, Kebo for C flight.

“We’re looking at playing as long as the greens are puttable,” said Kebo pro Pieter DeVos.

“We’ll hand mow the greens and squeegee them [to keep them playable],” said Flanagan.

All three courses will have wet areas to be negotiated.

“All three are determined to make a go of it,” said Chappelle.

One concession, though, is that riding carts are already forbidden for today’s play, but each course will decide that each day.

Also, each club will decide if their course has become unplayable, either before the round or during it.

“If we get started and we have to pull them off the course, the flight will be based on two rounds,” said Flanagan.

Or even one round as was the case in 1996, the only time that’s happened in tournament history.

If any play is called off, Chappelle and the club pros have determined that the overall winner will come from the A division, which has players with handicaps ranging from 0 to 9. That will be the case even if the A golfers play fewer rounds than the other two divisions.

There is no provision for now to postpone the tournament to later in the year. Conflicts with other events and busier summer play have been reasons cited in the past.

“Two of the courses were contemplating a possible rain date,” said Chappelle, “but one indicated it would be very difficult to do.”

If play does get under way, Ricky Jones of Thomaston will be trying to win his third straight Bunyan and fourth in six years.

Jones has also won the Maine Amateur Golf Championship in 2003 and ’04.

“I’ve been pepping myself up the last couple days [because of the rain],” said Jones. “Usually, the rain is not too bad. It all depends on how cold it is.”

Like many golfers, Jones hasn’t been able to play too much recently.

“I haven’t played since last Friday, except for nine holes on Tuesday. It was the only sun we’ve had this week,” said Jones with a little laugh.

He can expect challenges from Jesse Speirs of Bangor and Shawn Warren of Windham from a particularly tough field.

Speirs won the Bunyan in 2002 and ’03 and tied for second in the Greater Bangor Open in ’02, and Warren won the Maine Open as an amateur in 2004.

Joe Alvarez of Bangor finished third in last weekend’s Bar Harbor Bank & Trust Open, in the rain, was a runner-up to Speirs in the ’02 Bunyan, and advanced to the semifinals in last year’s Maine Amateur.

Cash Wiseman of South Portland, runner-up to Jones in the ’04 Amateur, and Toby Spector of Waterville also could be among the challengers.

On Sunday, the top six players in each flight will be regrouped into the final threesomes of the day to have the best scorers go head-to-head to the end.

In other tournament news, Whited Ford has decided to kick in another $500 for the senior division (60 and over) prize pool, pushing that total to $1,300.