AUBURN – Friday was a long day at Fox Ridge Golf Club for John Hickson of Topsham, and there was still work to do.

“I have to get back and close up the shop,” said the staffer at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Topsham.

He wasn’t returning empty-handed, however, as he carried away the crystal presented to the winner of the Charlie’s Maine Open Golf Championship.

Oh, and a check for $6,500.

Hickson posted a 1-over-par 73 at Fox Ridge for a three-day total of 210 and a two-stroke victory over Rich Parker of Lebanon, N.H. Parker shot a 69 for his 212 and collected $4,200.

Eric Egloff of Sandy Spring, Md., Jeff Seavey of Homosassa, Fla., and Shawn Warren of Tampa, Fla., tied for third at 214.

Egloff recorded Friday’s best round, a 68, while Warren, leader after the first round and co-leader with Hickson after the second round, shot a 77. Seavey, who started Friday a stroke behind Hickson and Warren, shot a 76.

Keegan Fennessy of Minot was the low amateur, edging Ricky Jones of Thomaston by a stroke. Fennessy fired a 70 for 216, and Jones had a 73 for 217.

Hickson also picked up the crystal for low Maine pro, while host pro Bob Darling Jr. of Auburn earned low senior pro honors and Mark Plummer of Manchester was the low senior amateur.

The tournament started going Hickson’s way from the opening hole.

The Hampden native parred the first three holes while Warren and Seavey struggled. Warren bogeyed the first three, and Seavey bogeyed the first and double-bogeyed the third.

All of a sudden, Hickson was up by three strokes on Warren and four on Seavey.

Hickson and Warren both bogeyed No. 4, but Seavey birdied it to trail by only two.

Warren birdied the short, par-4 fifth to also get within two, but that was as close as either of them would get for a while.

“I could never get the putter going,” said Warren, a Windham native. “It was just frustrating.”

Seavey, a teaching pro at Samoset Resort in Rockport, parred out the front, but Hickson birdied No. 8 and parred the rest of the first nine to pull ahead by three again. Warren also birdied 8, but he three-putted the ninth for bogey and was also three back.

Seavey gained a stroke with a birdie on 10 to Hickson’s par, but Warren fell farther behind with another three-putt bogey.

“You can’t have six three-putts and expect to win,” said Warren.

Hickson saved par from a green-side bunker on 11 while Seavey made bogey. Warren’s birdie effort stopped just short of the cup, but he did birdie 12 with a chip-in from behind the green.

Warren realized he needed to make something happen as he stood on the 13th tee three strokes behind.

He wanted at least birdie, maybe even eagle, on the 577-yard par-5, but what he got was a bogey.

“I hit driver on the par-5 [13th] so I could go for it,” said Warren, who won the Hollywood Slots Greater Bangor Open last month.

After Hickson and Seavey laid up, Warren went for the green but he ended up in the high grass left of the fairway – twice.

Fortunately he found the ball, had to take a penalty stroke for an unplayable lie and finished with a bogey.

He tried being aggressive again on the 13th, but he double-bogeyed the long par-3 after his tee ball splashed in the pond just short of the green.

“It’s a club that normally would just clear [the water],” said Warren. “I just pulled it a little bit.”

That’s when Hickson realized how big a lead he had.

“When it hit me was when I two-putted on the par-3 [14th],” said Hickson. “All of a sudden, I was five and six up [on Seavey and Warren, respectively].”

Hickson three-putted 15 for bogey and bogeyed 16 after pulling his tee shot into the rough on the left.

Hickson could feel the tension at that point. He didn’t know how anybody in front of him was doing.

“Hell, yeah,” said Hickson about feeling nervous.

“He has ice water in his veins,” said a laughing Darling, Hickson’s partner in many of the Maine chapter of the New England PGA events.

“Ice water,” agreed Hickson, “but my heart wasn’t pumping!”

After parring 17, he heard his lead was two shots over Parker. He already knew he was still five ahead of Warren and four ahead of Seavey.

Hickson laid up with his second shot on the par-5 18th. When his approach shot just cleared the pond and stopped in the fringe, he felt better.

“My heart went down my throat and back where it should be,” said Hickson.

He chipped up and made the putt to clinch the win.

“He let everybody else make mistakes,” said Warren.

“I tried to play smart and keep it in play,” said Hickson, although he added, “Making a couple of putts on the front would have been nice.”

Warren didn’t regret his aggressive play.

“I was playing to win,” he said. “The aggressive shots that cost me didn’t bother me.

“I wasn’t here to play for second place.”

Hickson said winning the Open for the first time was “very cool.”

“I was in the national club pro championship in June, but I felt less pressure there than I did here,” said Hickson.

dbarber@bangordailynews.net

990-8170

MAINE OPEN

At Fox Ridge GC, Auburn

Final-round scores

(a-amateur)

John Hickson 69-68-73-210

Rich Parker 70-73-69-212

Eric Egloff 70-76-68-214

Jeff Seavey 68-70-76-214

Shawn Warren 66-71-77-214

Robert Kalinowski 69-72-74-215

David Thomas 74-68-74-216

Keegan Fennessy (a) 74-72-70-216

James Gilleon 71-73-73-217

Ricky Jones (a) 72-72-73-217

Jimmy Burke 71-74-73-218

Brian Medley 73-70-76-219

Jerry Diphilippo 76-71-72-219

Kevin Durkin 74-71-74-219

Mark Plummer 71-73-75-219

Joshua Cupp 73-74-73-220

Jim Fairbanks 74-73-74-221

Joseph Alvarez (a) 75-74-72-221

Mark Alizzeo 71-73-77-221

Ross McGee 74-76-71-221

Benjamin Day 75-73-75-223

Rob Roylance 74-75-74-223

John Arnette 75-75-75-225

Abbie Valentine 73-77-76-226

Bob Darling 74-76-77-227

Eric Higgins (a) 75-73-79-227

Ryan Gay 75-79-73-227

Jason Powell 76-73-79-228

Sam Weiss (a) 77-73-80-230

David Grygiel 72-78-81-231

Ronald W. Kelton (a) 76-76-79-231

Christopher Thomas 75-73-84-232

David Gushee (a) 78-77-77-232

John Ellis, III (a) 77-77-78-232

Johnny Hayes (a) 76-77-79-232

Jace Pearson (a) 73-80-82-235

Curtis Jordan (a) 75-80-81-236

Kevin Byrne (a) 75-79-82-236

Gary Manoogian (a) 77-76-84-237

Michael Amato (a) 81-74-84-239

Roland Duquette (a) 75-78-87-240

Andrew Morse 71-74-ns-ns