BAR HARBOR – His round over, Seth Sweet of Madison said he walked off the Kebo Valley Club course feeling “pretty good” Tuesday.
It wasn’t until the rest of the field at the 91st Maine Amateur came off when Sweet realized just how good his round had been.
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Sweet, who at 15 is the second-youngest golfer in the field, carded a 2-under 68 to finish second behind Jason Gall of the Augusta Country Club. Gall shot a 3-under 67.
“I made everything I saw,” Sweet said. “I expected a little bit higher score. I kind of surprised myself with how good I shot the ball. I realized after everybody got in that it was a good day.”
Gall and Sweet were the lone golfers to finish the opening round under par.
The field featured 128 golfers but not 13-time champion Mark Plummer, who withdrew with an illness.
“It will be a couple of weeks before I’m back to full strength,” he said. “I did the Maine Open but didn’t have enough energy. I decided with the forecast as hot as it was that I better skip this one.”
Chris Hamel of Natanis and Tom Chard of Purpoodock shot 1 over and were tied for fourth with four others.
Pittston native Ryan Gay finished with a 2-over 72, as did Michael Nowak of Augusta. Kevin Byrne of Waterville shot a 73 and Jason MacDonald of Augusta had a 74.
“It was a pretty rough day,” Gay said. “It was a grind. I grinded it out as much as I could. I missed a lot of short putts. I missed five 3- or 4-footers and that kept me from getting anything going. I just didn’t get any momentum going. Everything was a little off. Hopefully I’ll get it going.”
Sweet made the cut by shooting a 72 at the Charlie’s Maine Open late last month. He said he carried the momentum into the first round of the Amateur.
“I started out going birdie-par,” he said. “But the birdie was a 30-footer on the second hole that really got me going. It got the momentum going for me. No. 2 is a tough hole, and I thought if I could birdie that I can go right through the round without a scratch on me.”
Sweet had four birdies and two bogeys. He finished the back nine at 1-under 35.
Sweet’s older brother, Zack, finished with an 8-over 78.
“I hit the ball real well,” Zack Sweet said. “The greens are tricky and pretty fast. I’m not upset. I know I could have done better. I think things will be better. I’m confident with how I’m striking the ball.”
Gall made five birdies, including on three of the first four holes on the back nine, but Gay struggled after a good start.
“I birdied the first hole and barely missed birdie on the third,” he said, “and it went down from there. I three-putted No. 6 (par 3), went in a hazard on seven and missed a short one for par on nine. It was tough.”
Other finishers: Shawn Keenan, Lakewood (75); Thomas Beane, Augusta (75); Heath Cowan, Lakewood (76); Christopher Langlais, Natanis (78); and Ryan Flaherty, Natanis (79).
“It wasn’t awful,” Cowan said. “I had a couple of bad swings that cost me. The course is in fantastic shape. The greens are fast so if you put them in wrong places, you can’t get up and down.”
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