Shawn Warren said he had no problem moving past his disastrous finish in the first round of this week’s New England Amateur – over the course of his final four holes, he went from 7-under to 1-over – but that didn’t make Wednesday’s second round an easy one.

The problem at The Woodlands Country Club on Wednesday was putting.

Warren, a Windham native and senior-to-be at West Virginia’s Marshall University, followed up his first-round 73 with a 76.

“I hit it well, but I had three three-putts, and I missed a few for birdie that I normally make,” said Warren, who finished second in last year’s New England Amateur and won last week’s Maine Amateur at the Portland Country Club.

The putting woes were there from the start for Warren, Marshall’s top scorer this past season. He three-putted the first hole for bogey, then followed that with three-putts on the seventh and 14th holes.

The missed birdie putts came on the second, third, fourth and fifth holes.

“They were probably about 15 feet, all of them,” said Warren. “When you hit it in there that close you want to make a couple of them. You want it to go in, but I couldn’t get it to fall.”

Warren was having no problem getting putts to fall in Tuesday’s first round. He started on the 10th tee and birdied holes 10, 11, 13, 14, 17, 1, 3 and 5.

With one bogey mixed in, Warren was 7-under par when he stepped into the sixth tee box, his 15th hole of the day. He made double-bogey, bogey, quadruple-bogey and bogey to finish his round.

When asked if the poor finish had an effect on how he played Wednesday, Warren said, “No, not really. I got a fresh start today, but I couldn’t get anything going out there. It was a new day, but I couldn’t get it going.”

Coming off his win in the Maine Amateur, Warren had high expectations for the New England Am.

“My game is where it needs to be,” he said. “I’m hitting it well, but I’m just not getting it done out there.”

Warren wasn’t worried about missing the cut, but he knew it would not be easy for him to work his way back into contention during Thursday’s 36-hole final round.

“If I can get back to under par, I’ll be OK,” he said. “If I can shoot 6-under (in both rounds), which is very doable out here, that will give me a chance to win.”

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