BRUNSWICK — Mark Plummer played his first Maine Amateur golf championship in 1966. He’s missed a few over the years but not many, and after finishing Wednesday’s second round at the Brunswick Golf Club, Plummer guessed he’s played in 46 or 47 of them.

In his near 50 tournaments, Plummer has a record 13 titles. But with a two-day, 12-over score of 156, the 65-year old Plummer missed the cut.

It was just two years ago at Waterville Country Club that Plummer played in the final group on the final day, but when the most decorated player in the tournament’s history misses the cut, the gap between the young players and veterans feels wider than ever.

“Some of them weren’t even born when I won my last one, I don’t think,” said Plummer, whose last title came in 2002.

Plummer used hyperbole but wasn’t far from the truth. Reese McFarlane was 12 when he played his first Maine Am. Now a member of the North Carolina-Wilmington golf team, McFarlane turns 20 next week and is a Maine Am veteran.

“I remember the nerves, so when I see a lot of the young guys out here, I know just how they’re feeling,” McFarlane said.

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RICKY JONES has three Maine Am titles, most recently winning in 2013 at Augusta Country Club. Jones was runner-up last year, as well as 2012, and recalled his first Maine Am experience, at Penobscot Valley Country Club in 1992. He was 21.

“I made a chip on the last hole that stopped an inch in front of the cup, and I missed the cut by one. I think the next year I finished third,” Jones said.

As one of the most successful players in Maine Am history, Jones realizes he’s a role model to some younger players, whether he intends to be or not.

“I remember growing up, looking up to (Plummer), and going out to watch him play and see what he did. He always seemed to be there every time,” Jones said.

“It’s probably harder on me than on (younger golfers) to go out there and play. When you’re the one who was out there hitting the longest drives and now you’re not …”

GAVIN DUGAS of Pittsfield came close to the shot of the day, nearly making a hole-in-one on the short par- 3 14th.

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“It was close. Then my birdie putt stayed right on the edge of the hole, so that hole didn’t really want me to come in,” said Dugas, who will be a junior at Husson University in the fall.

Dugas’ younger brother Eric, who will join Gavin at Husson, also nearly aced No. 14, putting his tee shot 6 inches from the cup.

THE EXPLOSION of talented younger players is undeniable. In the last decade, Jones is the only Maine Am winner to be older than his 20s.

“The MSGA junior program has produced some good young players. It’s really showing,” Plummer said. “I wish I could still play like that.”

To many players, including Joe Baker, who played in Plummer’s group in the first two rounds, Younger players can still learn from Plummer.

“I mean, he grinds,” Baker said. “He obviously probably doesn’t hit it as good as he used to, so he finds different ways around the course. You’ve got to just keep grinding out there, never give up.”

Baker is just 31 but has served as a teacher to younger players, including Sam Grindle, the first-round leader who recently completed his sophomore year with the Rollins College golf team.

“I’ve learned a bunch from a lot of the guys I’ve played with. I played with Joe Baker in a qualifying round the first time I tried to qualify for the Am, and he just reminded me to keep a steady head, hit the fairways and greens and it will come from there,” said Grindle, who was 16 when he played in his first Maine Am at Sunday River in 2012. He enters Thursday’s final round five strokes behind.

“I’ve learned it’s a long golf tournament. Fifty-four holes is a lot of golf. You can’t get caught up in one or two bad shots.”


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