BRUNSWICK – Mark Plummer of Manchester is not resting on his laurels as he prepares for his tournament appearances such as this week’s Maine Amateur Golf Championship at Brunswick Golf Club.

In fact, even at age 47, especially at age 47, he’s not resting at all.

“If I stay in shape and get all the time I need to play, then I can play the way I want to,” said Plummer.

Staying in shape is important because Plummer’s challengers are about the same age each year, but he gets a year older.

Ed Flowerdew of Falmouth, who cut Plummer’s lead to three strokes twice Friday before falling back, is only 21. Nick Glicos of Westbrook, who shared the first-round lead with Plummer, is also in his early 20s. Cole Kelly Jr. of Cape Elizabeth is another young prospect.

The problem for Plummer is his arthritis, which comes and goes and affects various parts of his body.

“I can’t run anymore because of the arthritis,” said Plummer, whose barrel-chested appearance does not conjure up the classic runner’s lean physique.

“I used to run 6 or 7 miles a day before my feet and knees went bad,” said Plummer.

Now he uses a Lifecycle, a suggestion his doctor made a few years ago. He was going to a health club to use one, but it was difficult to find the time to use it in the summer, so he found an alternative.

“I just got one for the house three weeks ago,” said Plummer.

He has been using the biking machine to help his left knee for the last three or four winters, he said.

“I used to have a brace for my knee,” said Plummer. “Aftewith the bike, I’ve had no need for the brace since.”

In the summer he scales back his workouts to three or four times a week as a supplement to his golf play.

“My legs are 90 percent of my swing,” he said of his unorthodox swing where he dips down on the downswing and drives into the ball. “When my legs are strong, that’s the only way I can get away with all that dipping.

“If my legs get tired, that’s when my swing gets bad.”

The reason he can scale back so much in the summer is that he gets to play five times a week, a nice benefit when you can get it.

He has taken over running the oil tank company his older brother, Stan Jr., used to run before his death last year.

“My younger brother [Steve] and I have a four-day work week each,” said Plummer, adding with a laugh as he nodded toward his father, Stan, “I have an understanding boss.”

Ed Flowerdew went from the golf course to the fishing hole to try to clear his mind of the day’s events.

“It was great to get away for an hour or so,” said Flowerdew, who went with some friends to a little jetty off Mackworth Island in Falmouth.

“We were looking for stripers,” said Flowerdew, “but we were about an hour too late. All there were were mackerel, and we didn’t have any lures small enough for them.”

He accepted the outcome in both cases.

“I just wanted to go head-to-head with Plummer,” he said. “He responded like a true champion.

“I put as much pressure on him as I could ask, and it didn’t seem to faze him in the least.

“I have to play to his standard now to win, and that’s what I want to do, win.”

Two players were conspicuously absent Friday, victims of Wednesday’s washed out second round which pushed the tournament into Friday.

Bob Girvan and Mike Knox were scheduled to play in the member-guest at Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono starting Friday.

Reportedly because of the significant fee required to participate in the member-guest, Girvan, the member at PVCC, opted to play there despite being only six strokes behind Plummer after the first two rounds. Knox, his guest, took his cue from Girvan.

For members of most clubs, the member-guest can be the most important event conducted by the club.

For some people, Girvan’s choice was understandable. Others still questioned it.