The 88th Maine Amateur golf championship got underway Tuesday morning at the Waterville Country Club. After one round of play, a Westbrook golfer was in the hunt for the lead.

Lance Libby of Sidney was the leader after the first round as he posted the only sub-par round of the day at 69.

Westbrook’s Gary Manoogian was three back at 72 with a front nine of 35 and a back nine of 37. Manoogian plays out of the Falmouth Country Club. And Gorham’s David Gushee was just four strokes off the pace after 18 holes as he came in with a 73 (36-37)

One stroke behind Libby at even par 70 were Eric Higgins (Kennebunk), Joseph Alvarez (Hampden), and 13-time Maine Amateur champion Mark Plummer (Augusta). Todd Kirn of Kennebunk was two shots back at 71 and three golfers were three shots back including Manoogian, Ricky Jones (Thomaston), and Toby Spector (Waterville).

Other local golfers in the mix after round one were Ashley Fifield of Westbrook (Gorham Country Club) at 75, Ricardo Petillo of Westbrook (Riverside) at 77, Bobby Myers of Standish (Gorham) at 78, Joe Manganaro of Gorham at 78, Patrick Taber of Gorham at 78, Brandon Poulin of Gorham at 79, and Thomas Greer of Falmouth (Gorham) at 81.

This year marks the ninth time since the tournament started in 1918 that the par-70 layout has hosted the event.

The 54-hole tourney began with 126 players competing for the prestigious title of Maine’s best amateur golfer. All golfers were looking to play well in rounds one and two in order make the cut for the final round on Thursday. The top 40 scores (and ties) after 36 holes of play will move on to Thursday’s final round. Not only do those top 40 players get a shot at the championship, but they are also exempt for next year’s Maine Amateur.

In 2006, Windham’s Shawn Warren won the Maine Amateur at the Gorham Country Club. The most recent winners include:

2006 – Shawn Warren

2005 – Corey Poulin

2004 – Ricky Jones

2003 – Ricky Jones

2002 – Mark Plummer

2001 – Mark Plummer

2000 – Mark Plummer

1999 – Ron Brown, Jr.

1998 – Eric Crouse

1997 – Mark Plummer

1996 – Mark Plummer

1995 – Casey Bourque

1994 – Mark Plummer

1993 – Dan Ladd

1992 – Rick Ambrose

1991 – Sean Gorgone

1990 – Sean Gorgone

For more coverage of the Maine Amateur, see www.keepMEcurrent.com and next week’s edition of the American Journal.