Jones, Speirs hope to get a line on Maine Amateur

Ricky Jones of Thomaston will be trying to regain his title and Jesse Speirs of Bangor will be in search of his first as the 87th Maine Amateur Golf Championship kicks off today at Portland Country Club in Falmouth.

The tournament, which was first held in 1918, returns to medal play for the first time since 2000.

Mark Plummer of Manchester won the 2000 event, then won the next two when the Maine State Golf Association returned the format to its match-play roots. A 13-time Amateur champ, Plummer will be among the favorites in a wide-open field.

Jones earned the titles in 2003 and ’04 before Corey Poulin of Skowhegan ended that streak last year at Boothbay Country Club by beating Jones in the final. Poulin turned pro over the winter, though, and cannot defend his crown. Jones has also won the Whited Ford Paul Bunyan Amateur Golf Tournament three times since 2001.

Speirs won the Bunyan in 2002 and ’03 and also tied for second in the ’02 Greater Bangor Open after leading going into the final round.

Among the other expected contenders are Shawn Warren of Windham, Eric Higgins of Kennebunkport, Ron Brown of Cumberland Foreside, Joe Alvarez of Veazie, J.J. Frost of Brewer, Marc Siewertsen of Scarborough, and Mike Norris of Newburgh.

Warren, who won the 2004 Maine Open as an amateur, tried preparing for this year’s three-day tournaments by playing in the Bunyan last month. It only lasted one day, but Warren’s 3-under-par 67 at Kebo Valley Golf Club in Bar Harbor, a course he hadn’t played before, gave him the title.

Higgins was the low amateur in the recent TD Banknorth Portland Open, tying for 12th at 3-under-par 207.

Norris won the ’99 Bunyan and has been playing well this year, Brown is a two-time former Amateur champ, Alvarez made it to the semifinals last year, and J.J. Frost lost to Plummer in the ’02 Amateur final and was a match-play qualifier again last year.

At two ends of the age spectrum this year are Jim Veno out of the Biddeford-Saco Country Club and David Gushee of Gorham.

Veno was a high schooler when he won his first Amateur crown in 1960 and he won again two years later. Now he is trying to win it as a senior player.

Gushee is a 15-year-old who won one of the three Amateur qualifiers this year.

He still isn’t the youngest player, though. That honor goes to 14-year-old Andrew Cummings, also of Biddeford-Saco.

The competitors are scheduled to play rounds today and Wednesday with the low 40 and ties advancing to Thursday’s final round.

The only complication could be the isolated thunderstorms predicted for today and Thursday. When the Amateur was last held at Portland Country Club, the first day was washed out as well.

PCC has hosted the Amateur 11 times previously, starting in 1919.

The layout, a Donald Ross design, is fairly open on the front nine with much tighter, tree-lined holes on most of the back nine.