CAPE ELIZABETH — Rhode Island made it look easy.

After a 10-year absence, the New England Junior Amateur Invitational championship is headed to the Ocean State.

In the two-day, 54-hole tournament at the Purpoodock Club for the region’s top junior golfers, Rhode Island’s consistency stood out. Only two strokes separated the team’s scores from the opening round to the last.

Rhode Island, with rounds of 363, 361 and 361, topped Massachusetts by 19 strokes (1,085 to 1,104). Connecticut was third (1,113), followed by Vermont (1,132), New Hampshire (1,149) and Maine (1,164).

The team score for each round was made up of the best five scores out of the seven players for each state. The golfers played 36 holes Monday and 18 on Tuesday.

Massachusetts, which won the past two years, and Connecticut have dominated the tournament since Rhode Island last won in 2005. The only other state to win in the past decade was New Hampshire in 2009.

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Maine’s lone win in the tournament, which began in 1967, came in 2002. This year’s squad was young, including two 14-year-olds and a 15-year-old playing in their first New England Junior.

“They’re all good golfers but they definitely underperformed,” said Zach Golojuch, Maine’s junior golf coordinator. “For most of them, this was their first big tournament. They played a lot more relaxed (Tuesday).”

While there were five rounds in the 60s over the two days, no one shot below 3-under par during the tournament. The undulating greens, challenging par 3s and 90-degree heat both days took its toll on the players.

Rhode Island had the top three individual finishers. Patrick Welch of Providence was first with rounds of 71-69-71 for a 2-under 211. Davis Chatfield of South Attleboro, Massachusetts, was next at 212 and Riley Griffin of Providence was third at 215. Chatfield, 16, was eligible to play for Rhode Island because he’s a member of a course there.

“I knew coming in that we had a pretty good chance to win,” said Welch. “We stuck to our game plan and got it done. We wanted to hit fairways and greens and two-puttt for pars. The greens aren’t that large that if you missed one you had a good chance to chip it close and make par.”

This summer Chatfield beat Welch, 15, in the semifinals of the Rhode Island Junior Championship en route to winning it. Welch was medalist in qualifying for match play in the Rhode Island Amateur.

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Several spectators marveled that Welch hits all his shots cross-handed. He started playing that way when he picked up the game at 10.

“It just feels natural,” he said.

The tournament rotates among the states, with Maine getting to host the event every six years.

“It’s a fun course to play and one you can score on,” Griffin said of Purpoodock. “The greens were outstanding. You can be aggressive on some par 4s and hit the driver. Other holes you want to play more conservatively.”

Cole Anderson, 14, of Camden was Maine’s top golfer with rounds of 72-76-76 for a 224 total; he was 11th overall. Drew Powell of Bangor was 22nd (230) and Ryan Collins of Cape Elizabeth tied for 25th (234). The other Maine golfers were Eric Dugas (tied for 31st), Logan Thompson (tied for 34th), Drew Kane (tied for 38th) and Austin Legge (40th).

“The future looks bright for our junior program,” said Golojuch. “We only lose two golfers from the team, and we have 12 to 15 golfers along with the five players coming back who could make the team next year.”


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