Tourney attracts doctor to state Warren takes first-round lead

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BAR HARBOR – Dr. Jerome Missel and his wife Rebecca of Woonsocket, R.I., wound up with an unusual prize during the Whited Ford Paul Bunyan Amateur Golf Tournament last year – a second home.

“We had been looking on and off for a couple of years,” said Jerome Missel.

But they had been looking in the Carolinas, Florida a couple of times, and Georgia, he said. They found it here.

“We were looking to go south for the winter, some place warm. Do you think we went in the wrong direction?” Missel asked with a laugh.

He only recently discovered the tournament, the 42nd edition of which began Friday with 360 players signed up for the 54-hole tournament spread over three divisions and rotating among three golf courses – Kebo Valley Golf Club in Bar Harbor, Rockland Golf Club, and Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono.

“My wife [who grew up in Eddington] was out driving around, which is always dangerous,” he said, chuckling again.

In this case, it apparently turned out well. She found a house in town that they both liked, and they bought it.

“It has a lot of tourist traffic, but it hasn’t destroyed the vintage character,” he said. “We like it, [actually] my wife loves it.”

Also, it’s not a one-dimensional population like some areas, he said.

“There’s a whole range of society and interests,” Missel said.

Kebo Valley, which Missel joined last year, had a lot to do with his decision, too.

While ocean views are impossible, Missel is still struck by the views he does get.

“[Looking from] the eighth tee, with the mountain in the background, it has a majesty to it. It’s very beautiful,” he said.

Playing Kebo is taking some getting used to.

“Kebo doesn’t have the length or daunting fairway traps, but in terms of scoring, it’s one of the most difficult I’ve played,” pointed out the Division A player.

“It’s a very positional golf course,” said Missel, who is also a member at historic Brae Burn Country Club in West Newton, Mass. “I’ve never shot a really good score [at Kebo], but I’m starting to see much more how to play it.”

A lot of the competitors were having to adjust their play Friday because of wet conditions. And very few of the 360 were no-shows for their rounds.

There were periods of sunshine during the day, but there was some rain and, late in the afternoon, heavy fog and a cool breeze chased home the last groups.

Shawn Warren of Windham, playing in his first Bunyan, turned in the best round of the day with a 3-under-par 67 at Kebo, followed by two-time defending champion Ricky Jones of Thomaston at 70, and two-time champ Jesse Speirs of Bangor at 71.

Corey Junkins leads Class B after shooting a 77 at PVCC, and Bucky Owen of Orono shot 84 at Rockland to lead Class C.

Missel was disappointed with how his day went.

“I parred three of the last four holes I played,” said Missel, but he had to quit because there were long waits at times and his back, which has been giving him trouble, started tightening up.

“I didn’t want to stress it or push it,” he said. “I stopped before it got too bad.”

“I started not completing my backswing, and my backswing is short enough as it is,” he added.

Warren had never played Kebo before, but he liked what he saw.

Play started on No. 3 to give the first two holes a few extra hours to dry, and Warren opened with a birdie. He gave that stroke back on No. 6 but posted back-to-back birds on 13 and 14 and added two more on 16 and 18 to get to 4 under. He bogeyed his final hole.

“I putted the ball terrible today,” said the 21-year-old Warren. “I started hitting the ball closer coming in and I made a couple of putts to get a decent round.”

Jones birdied No. 7, bogeyed 8 and 9, and birdied 10. The other 14 holes were pars.

“I scraped it around,” said Jones. “I had my I-haven’t-played-in-a-week swing. [It] started coming around at the end.”

Missel said, “No matter how you play, it’s a beautiful place to be.”