The 92nd men’s Maine Amateur Championship begins Tuesday at Portland Country Club with 132 players in the field. Among those players are five former champions.

They are Cumberland’s Ron Brown Jr. of the host club, Eric Crouse of Portland, Ryan Gay of Pittston, Ricky Jones of Thomaston and the tournament’s all-time winner, Mark Plummer of Manchester. Brown, Gay and Jones each has won the tournament twice. Crouse has one victory and Plummer is a 13-time champion, the first coming in 1973 and the most recent in 2002.

There are several other contenders in the field. Jason Gall of Cumberland finished tied for second last year at Kebo Valley Golf Club in Bar Harbor. Gall and Jones finished a stroke behind Gay, who plays for the University of New Mexico.

Matt Greenleaf of Sable Oaks and Seth Sweet of Madison tied for fourth at 217. Others in the top 10 a year ago were Chris Hamel, Natanis Golf Course; Joe Alvarez, Penobscot Valley; and Keith Patterson, Biddeford-Saco Country Club.

And there are others who could make a run. As in recent Maine Amateurs, there is a strong contingent of talented young players.

The tournament is 54 holes of stroke play with the field being cut to the low 40 and ties after 36 holes.

The first Maine Amateur was held in 1918. The next year, Portland Country Club hosted its first Amateur, won by Harlan Turner.

The tournament has been held annually with the exceptions of 1943 and 1944. This will be the 13th Amateur contested at Portland CC, which was founded in 1895. The club was located in the Thornton Heights section of South Portland before it moved soon after to its present location in Falmouth Foreside. The course was designed by Donald Ross.

The last three tournaments at Portland were won by Shawn Warren in 2006, Casey Bourque in 1995 and Plummer in 1982. Other notable winners at PCC include the late Dr. Ray Lebel, who won on his home course in 1942 and 1961 and finished second in 1957 and again in 1982 to Plummer by two shots. Dick Diversi of Waterville beat Lebel in 1957.

TEE TO GREEN: For the fourth time in five years, The Ledges Golf Club in York will host a U.S. Amateur qualifying tournament on July 27. The field of 51 players will play 36 holes with the top two scorers advancing to the U.S. Amateur. The field is comprised of players from Maine and the other New England states except Rhode Island. There are also players from Canada, Florida, North Carolina and California.

Some of the top players from Maine include Ricky Jones of Thomaston, who twice previously qualified for the U.S. Amateur at The Ledges; Eric Crouse of Portland; Jason Harris of Bath; D.J. Honan Jr. of Falmouth and Seth Sweet of Madison.

Another top player in the field is Brian Higgins of Bellingham, Mass., a two-time Massachusetts Golf Association player of the year.

“The course is in pristine condition,” said General Manager Matt Blasik. “We made some changes to the course, which I feel the players will like. We’ve widened the 18th fairway to make it more player friendly. Because we’ve produced quality tournaments before, the USGA lets us handle the course setup.

“The golfers who qualify from here are always top players.”

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

tchard@pressherald.com

Twitter: TomChardPPH

 

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