Warren in control, has early edge Seavey trails leader by 2 strokes after first day

AUBURN – Golf is all about ball control, and Maine natives Shawn Warren of Tampa, Fla., and Jeff Seavey of Homosassa, Fla., showed what it means to be able to control the ball during the opening round of the 90th Charlie’s Maine Open Golf Championship on Wednesday.

Warren, a Windham native who won the Hollywood Slots Greater Bangor Open three weeks ago, knocked a number of approach shots close en route to a 6-under-par 66 at Fox Ridge Golf Club, while Seavey was able to knock it close enough to post a 4-under 68.

Right behind are John Hickson of Topsham and Robert Kalinowski of Marshfield, Mass., who finished in the cloud-shrouded moonlight, at 69 and Rich Parker of Lebanon, N.H., and Eric Egloff of Sandy Spring, Md., at 70. Thirteen-time Maine Amateur champ Mark Plummer heads a six-man group at 71 that includes 2001 Maine Open victor James Gilleon of Franklin, N.H. Ricky Jones, the ’06 Open winner, came in at 72.

All of the groups finished but just barely. The last one came in at about 8:30 p.m.

Play continues with 18 holes today, although there is the potential for rain in the afternoon. There will be a cut after the second round to the low 33 and ties for Friday’s 18-hole finish.

Warren, who followed his GBO victory with a fifth at the Rhode Island Open and a fourth at a one-day event in Manchester, Conn., displayed his ball control right away.

“I had a tap-in for birdie on [No.] 1,” said Warren of what is normally the 10th hole. The nines were reversed for this event. Then he knocked three more approach shots close.

“I had a tap-in on 8, a tap-in on 10 and a two-putt for birdie on 18,” said Warren. “I had four birdies from inside 2 feet.”

Even when he didn’t get it close, he was still able to convert.

“I made three putts from 15 feet for birdie,” he said. His only bogey was a three-putt from 15 feet on No. 3. Seavey, a teaching pro at Samoset Resort in Rockport for 12 years, could have given lessons on spinning the ball. His most impressive result came on the 543-yard, par-5 eighth hole. He had a tough lie in the rough and laid up about 100 yards short of the green on the uphill hole.

“I hit a wedge from 101 yards,” said Seavey. “It hit 3 feet short [of the cup], bounced over it and spun back in.”

After seven straight pars, that eagle put his round under par for good. Although Seavey bogeyed the next hole, he spun another one close on 10 for birdie, then birdied the next hole to go 3 under. A bogey on 12 was only a temporary blip in his round, and he added birdies on 14 – a difficult 202-yard, downhill par-3 with a peninsula green – and the final hole, on which he nearly holed out another wedge for eagle.

“I had about 240 yards to the green,” said Seavey of the 521-yard par-5 which has an approach shot over a pond.

“I had no business even trying to go over [the pond],” said Seavey, “so I decided to lay up about 100 yards out.”

Which is exactly what he did.

“I hit it about 8 feet past and almost holed it coming back,” said Seavey.

The other part of ball control is staying out of trouble.

“I just kept it in play all day,” said Seavey. “If you miss a green, you just try to recover.”

Warren, who won this tournament in 2004 as an amateur, did much the same thing.

“My plan was to keep it between the trees, knock it on the green and make a couple of putts,” he said.

“When you hit it well off the tee, you can be aggressive with your second shot,” added Warren.

Warren said the condition of the greens was an important factor.

“The fairways were definitely soaked,” he said. “I was surprised the greens were still pretty firm. “They rolled pretty fast for how much rain we’ve been getting.”

Hickson, a Hampden native, bogeyed the first hole but righted his round with birdies on Nos. 6 and 9 to make the turn at 1-under 35. On the back nine, he birdied 11 and 13, bogeyed 15 and finished with a birdie on 18.

Kalinowski turned at 4 under par, including an eagle on 8, but was 1 over par on the back as the dark closed in. Plummer bogeyed the par-5 second hole and birdied No. 8 to turn even par, then played the back nine without making a 4. He made five 3s and four 5s for 35.

dbarber@bangordailynews.net

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