Portland Country Club in Falmouth is poised to host the 16th annual New England Seniors Championship on Tuesday and Wednesday. The field will play 18 holes each day. The tournament annually attracts the top senior golfers in the six-state region.

Heading the Maine contingent in the tournament is Mark Plummer. Plummer of Manchester, a 13-time state amateur champion, won the New England Seniors title in 2007 in a playoff at York Golf and Tennis, the last time the event was held in Maine.

Players from the host club are Arthur Batson, Ron Brown Jr., Steve Gallant and Lowell Watson. Jim Van Fleet, who won the Maine Seniors Championship in August, is in the field.

Tom Bean of Augusta, Alan Bouchard of The Woodands, Mike Doucette of Dunegrass and Gary Manoogian of Falmouth are some of the other Mainers entered.

Former Portland residents living out of state but competing are Vin Bucci and Bruce Carter of Massachusetts, and Phil Pleat of New Hampshire. Pleat graduated from Deering High, where he played golf and basketball. He has been one of New Hampshire’s top amateurs for years, claiming 17 individual state titles. In his first year of eligibility, the 57-year-old Pleat advanced to the finals of the U.S. Senior Amateur in 2011, losing one-up.

Carter has been a top player in Massachusetts. He graduated from Cheverus High and the University of Maryland, playing golf at both schools. Carter lost in the match play final in the 1973 Maine Amateur at Riverside to Plummer.

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Bucci played baseball at Cheverus, where he was one of the Telegram League’s top shortstops. He also played for the 1970 state American Legion champion Caldwell Post of Deering.

TEE TO GREEN: Maine will be out to defend its Tri-State Championship against New Hampshire and Vermont when the annual competition is held Sept. 20-22 at Martindale in Auburn. Maine took the title last year at Jay Peak in Vermont. Comprising the team are Curt Jordan, Joe Alvarez, Andrew Slattery, Jack Wyman, Mike O’Brien, Mike Doran, Matt Greenleaf, Craig Chapman, Brian Bilodeau, Ricky Jones, and senior players Mark Plummer, Gary Manoogian, Jim Van Fleet and Lowell Watson.

Emily Bouchard, Monica Austin and Laurie Hyndman will represent Maine in the USGA Women’s Team Championship at the NRC Country Club in Kettering, Ohio, from Tuesday through Thursday.

The Two-Man Championship will be played at Brunswick Golf Club on Sept. 24-25 and the Mid-Amateur Championship will be played Sept. 28-29 at Old Marsh in Wells. Both tournaments are conducted by the Maine State Golf Association. Contact mike@mesga.org for more questions.

Former Gorham and Dunegrass pro Mark Fogg, a member of the Maine Golf Hall of Fame, is caddying for Laurel Kean in the Legends Tournament at Falmouth. Fogg works with Kean at LaPlaya Beach and Golf Club in Naples, Fla.

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

tchard@pressherald.com

Twitter: TomChardPPH


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