ROCKLAND – Corey Poulin of Skowhegan was ready to pass on playing in the 41st Whited Ford Paul Bunyan Amateur Golf Tournament this year.

“I really didn’t think I was playing good enough,” he said.

He reconsidered as the tournament approached and changed his mind.

“I thought, ‘What the heck. I play it every year,”‘ he said. “My whole intention for coming back [from Florida] was to play a lot of golf.”

The change of mind paid off.

He entered Thursday morning, then shot a 1-under-par 69 at Rockland Golf Club on Friday to take a three-stroke lead over defending champion Ricky Jones of Thomaston and two-time champ Jesse Speirs of Bangor.

Erik Fitch of Castine and James Anderson of Rockland are tied for fourth in Division A at 73.

In Division B at Kebo Valley Golf Club in Bar Harbor, Joseph Alexander of Bangor Municipal Golf Course led the way with a 75, while Mike Morse of Sanford Country Club leads Division C after shooting a 78 at Bangor Muni.

The three divisions play one round on each of the three courses during the 54-hole tournament. After today’s second round, the top scorers in each division will be re-paired for Sunday’s 18-hole finale.

Poulin worked as a caddie and in the bag room at Coral Creek Golf Club in Placida, Fla., over the winter and was able to play about three times a week, he said.

“I’m not sure what direction I want to go with golf,” said Poulin. “I thought I’d come back and just try to win a few things and see how it goes.”

But when he returned to Maine about three weeks ago, he was spraying his driver.

“I was tentative,” he said. “I fell into my old habit. I was playing defensively, holding onto it. I pushed a lot of drives and I pulled some.”

He made up for it, though, with his irons.

“I just hit good approach shots, I guess,” said Poulin.

He played bogey-free golf on the first nine, picking up a birdie on the par-4 sixth when he sank a 20-foot putt, and made the turn at 35.

Poulin stuck his tee shot 3 feet from the pin on the par-3 10th but missed the birdie putt.

“I think I missed probably five putts inside 6 feet,” said Poulin.

He then bogeyed the long, uphill par-3 11th and the short, downhill par-4 12th to fall to 1 over par.

He hit his approach shot on the 440-yard, par-4 13th a foot from the cup and made birdie, then added another birdie when he chipped in on 16, which felt particularly good.

“Last year, I think I took 8 or 9,” he said.

Speirs didn’t play much golf last winter, concentrating on academics instead as he prepared for his freshman year at Texas Christian University this fall.

“It feels good to play in a tournament,” said Speirs. “I haven’t played tournament golf for a while.”

Speirs said he is having some trouble with his driver, too.

“I’ve been losing it right on occasion,” said Speirs. “I’m working on it , but it takes time. I’m trying my best to keep it in play.”

He lost a ball on the fourth hole but was able to hold the damage to a bogey. He went birdie-bogey-birdie on the next three holes, but suffered bogeys on Nos. 9-11, all par 3s.

He offset another bogey on 16 with a birdie on 17.

Jones made three birdies and three bogeys through the first 15 holes, but he hit his tee shot on 16 out of bounds and took a double-bogey 6.

“I just pulled it,” he said. “It was one of those you just hit and you don’t know what happened.”

He lipped out a birdie putt on 17 and parred the last hole.

“I thought once I got past 14, I could make a charge because there are a lot of birdie holes left,” said Jones.

It didn’t happen.

“I just didn’t have any zip on my iron shots, and I couldn’t make putts,” he said.