OAKLAND – Eric Higgins of Kennebunk was never the No. 1 player on his high school golf team, and he didn’t take a starry-eyed approach to his golf future.

He wasn’t sure he even wanted to continue with competitive golf after he graduated.

He finally decided he would and wound up at the University of Northern Colorado where he came under the tutelage of Wally Goodwin, Tiger Woods’ coach at Stanford University.

“He has helped me a lot with the mental aspect of my game,” said Higgins, who came up with a game plan for Thursday’s final round of the 88th Maine Amateur Golf Championship.

Higgins, 24, turned that plan into a 1-under-par 69 at Waterville Country Club for a three-day total of 209 and a one-stroke win over Toby Spector of Waterville.

Spector posted the best round of the tournament with a 67 Thursday to finish at 210. Joe Alvarez of Hampden shot a 71 for 211 and sole possession of third place.

Lance Libby of Sidney, the leader after both the first and second rounds, recorded a 75 and tied 13-time Maine Amateur champ Mark Plummer of Manchester for fourth at 212. Plummer shot a 71.

Higgins’ plan worked to near perfection as he overcame the three-stroke lead held by Libby at the start of the round.

“I knew I had to make birdies right off the start,” said Higgins, who did just that on Nos. 3 and 5. “I couldn’t ask for a better start.

“I had to do it and I did.”

While Higgins hoped his plan would bring him into title contention eventually, it turned out that it only took six holes.

“That was way quicker than I expected,” he said.

He tied for the lead when he birdied No. 5 and Libby bogeyed it.

On the next hole, a 190-yard par 3, Higgins two-putted from the fringe for par, but Alvarez bogeyed it and Libby made double bogey. That put Higgins up by two strokes on Libby and three on Alvarez and Plummer.

All of a sudden, his prospects had brightened, but there were still 12 holes remaining.

“I told myself to breathe, stay relaxed, and play in the moment,” he said.

Spector adopted a different plan to make a run at the title.

“I just started hitting driver everywhere and trying to get [a] wedge in my hand,” said Spector.

He bogeyed the fourth hole, but it was his only one. He birdied 5, 10, 11, and 18 to eventually get to 3 under for the day and even for the championship.

As the front nine wound to a close, Higgins’ lead began to shrink.

He bogeyed 8 and parred 9, while Alvarez went par-birdie to cut the margin to one.

When Libby birdied 10 from 6 inches, he also pulled within a stroke. He bogeyed 11 and 13, though, to fall off the pace.

Higgins’ bogey on 13 and Alvarez’s par had them sharing the lead until 15.

While they both hit good tee shots, Alvarez hit his pitch shot fat and it came up well short of the green.

Higgins hit his approach shot left of the pin and it climbed the small rise behind the pin.

“I thought it was going to go over the hill,” said Higgins.

Instead, it curled around and rolled back down to the right of the pin, stopping about 5 feet away. Higgins sank the putt and took the lead for good.

He followed that by hitting his 5-iron tee shot on the green of the par-3 16th.

“That was probably the swing of the tournament for me,” said Higgins. “I had been struggling with [hitting the ball to the right] all week.”

After making smooth pars on 16 and 17, he heard cheering coming from the 18th green.

Spector had nearly holed his approach shot on 18 for eagle, which would have tied Higgins.

“I was just trying to get close, throw it over the bunker [and let it feed to the hole],” Spector said.

Then people started reacting.

“I hoped it was going in,” he said.

He was left with a tap-in birdie, and Higgins only needed a par to earn his first win.

Higgins knocked his approach shot to about 12 feet and two-putted to take a title he had always hoped to get.

“Everybody who plays golf in Maine wants to win this,” said Higgins.

Alvarez was philosophical about the outcome.

“I played fine, but he played really solid,” said Alvarez.

“He started off hot and he didn’t make bogeys like I did,” added Alvarez. “He made fewer mistakes.”

“Joe hit the ball great,” said Higgins. “He just couldn’t get the putts to drop.”

As for Libby, Higgins was sympathetic and impressed.

“I think the pressure of playing on his home course may have got to Lance. He could have folded, but he didn’t,” said Higgins.