The McFarlane family of Cape Elizabeth will be well represented in the Maine Amateur Championship July 6-8 at Kebo Valley Golf Club in Bar Harbor. Dad Jim McFarlane and sons Alex, 20, and Reese, 12, all have qualified for the tournament. Alex, a student at the University of Maine, qualified by making the 36-hole cut at last year’s tournament at Martindale Country Club in Auburn.

Jim and Reese qualified on June 17 at Toddy Brook Golf Course in North Yarmouth, one of three qualifying sites for players not already in the tournament. In rainy and cold playing conditions, Reese shot 79 while Dad had an 81. The last score at Toddy Brook to get into the field was 84. Reese will be the youngest of the 126 qualifiers.

“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” said Jim McFarlane. “It’s the highlight of golf so far for me to go with my boys to the Maine Amateur,” said McFarlane, who last played in the state amateur in 1990.

Reese, a seventh-grader at Cape Elizabeth Middle School, has won Maine Junior titles the last three summers. Last August after turning 12, McFarlane won the 13-14 division. Before that, he won the 11-12 division two years in a row.

Later next month, he will play in the Optimist International Junior Golf Championship in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. There are over 700 players from 25 countries in the tournament.

McFarlane qualified by winning a tournament in Rhode Island in June. 

THE SECOND YEAR of the combined Charlie’s Portland-Maine Open begins Tuesday at Riverside Golf Course in Portland. The 36-hole tournament wraps up Wednesday.

This year there will be a cut after 18 holes, which will allow for a one-tee start on the second day. The tournament will have 150 to 160 players, and the field will be cut to the low 50 and ties. Also, players who are within 10 shots of the lead after the first round will make the cut.

The cut will include 10 Maine pros for the final round, 10 senior pros and 20 amateurs. Senior division players, pros and amateurs ages 50 and over will play for a senior division purse.

Defending champion Jim Renner of Plainville, Mass., has sent in an entry. He finished at 14-under 129 to win by three shots.

Other ex-Maine Open winners entered are David Cummings (1994), Kyle Gallo (1999), Ryan Ouellette (2002), Sean Warren (2004), amateur Ricky Jones (2006) and John Hickson (2008).

Top amateurs Ryan Gay, Mark Plummer and Jason Gall are entered along with Riverside amateur Mike Lee. David Gunas, winner of the 2002 TD Banknorth Portland Open, returns to Riverside.

The tournament’s pro-am is Monday with a 9 a.m. shotgun start. The pro-am serves as a major fundraiser for the Maine State Golf Association’s scholarship fund. 

TRUMAN LIBBY of Leeds, a member of Springbrook Golf Club, was the overall winner at last week’s Central Maine Seniors tournament with an impressive 3-under 67 at Rockland Golf Club. Libby, 64, had five birdies and two bogeys.

“We played from the senior tees so the course couldn’t have played more than 5,800 yards. It may have been longer. We played some regular tees, but others were moved up,” he said.

Libby has shot in the 60s many times. His lowest round was a 66 at Springbrook two years ago.

The round he is most proud of was his 67 two years ago at his Florida course, Sugarmill Woods in Homosassa.

Between Maine and Florida, Libby, a retired middle school principal, estimates he plays 200 rounds a year. He broke 70 for the first time about 20 years ago with a 68 at Brunswick Golf Club.

Libby also plays in a lot of tournaments.

“I love to compete and I don’t get into much trouble with my tee shots,” said Libby. 

TEE TO GREEN: Veteran Maine pro Mark Fogg became the head pro at Sunset Ridge in Westbrook two weeks ago. Fogg has been reunited with several members who were at Gorham Country Club when he was the pro there. Fogg was at Dunegrass in Old Orchard Beach for the last two years. He will focus on teaching and plans to have clinics for adults and juniors. …

Ryan Gay of Pittston shot rounds of 77-69-72-79 –297 to finish 53rd in the Monroe Invitational Championship two weeks ago in Pittsford, N.Y. Gay will be the favorite at the Maine Amateur. He won the rain-shortened Paul Bunyan earlier this month with a 68 at Kebo Valley and captured the state amateur in 2008 at Biddeford-Saco Country Club. The last time the Maine Amateur was held at Kebo Valley was in 1998; Eric Crouse won the title in a playoff with Mark Plummer. Crouse will be playing in the tournament, as will Plummer. …

Ricky Jones of Thomaston won the state qualifying tournament for the U.S. Public Links Tournament when he shot 70-71–141 at Riverside on Wednesday. 

Staff Writer Tom Chard can be reached at 791-6419 or at:

tchard@pressherald.com