CUMBERLAND — Lucas Roop of Gorham won a playoff over Tom Higgins of South Portland to capture the 16-18 division of the Maine Junior Amateur Golf Championship at Val Halla Golf Club on Wednesday.

Roop, an incoming senior at Gorham High, made par in all three playoff holes to hold off Higgins, who birdied the 18th hole to force the playoff.

Both golfers carded a two-day total of 155, 13 strokes over par.

Erin Holmes of Cumberland finished strong to win the girls’ 16-18 age group, one stroke ahead of Elizabeth Lacognata of Scarborough and Bailey Plourde of Newcastle. She carded a 77 to finish with a two-day total of 156.

Roop and Higgins, a student at Cheverus High, played their best golf of the tournament in the playoff.

“It was head-to-head,” Roop said. “It was intense. It was probably the best match I ever had. Three holes.”

On the first playoff hole, Roop curled a 20-foot putt from the fringe for a matching par to remain in a tie.

“It was very good experience for me,” Roop said. “It will make the next time a little easier. I never really felt that many nerves before.”

After both golfers parred the second playoff hole, Higgins put his tee shot into a water hazard to take a one-stroke penalty. Roop tapped in for his third straight par to win the match.

“It was a grind all around,” said Roop, who had an 81 to go with his opening-day 74. “I couldn’t really hit any fairways. We were just grinding. I didn’t really make any big numbers and that was good. I just kept it to bogey when I couldn’t keep it in the fairway.”

Holmes shot a par 37 over the last nine holes to pull out a come-from-behind victory.

“I knew I had to have a really good back nine at the turn because my front nine was pretty rough,” she said.

Holmes, who graduated from Greely High and will play at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania starting next month, was 5 over at the turn.

“I knew I just had to have a really good back nine, so I put my mental focus into that,” she said.

Holmes moved into the lead on the par-4, 365-yard 16th hole that features a 90-degree dogleg to the right.

Lacognata, who held a two-stroke lead over Holmes going into the 16th, took a triple bogey to fall a stroke behind.

“I just wasn’t in mental focus on the 16th (hole),” said Lacognata, an incoming senior at Scarborough High. “From then on it was more of a mental battle with regret creeping in for not trying to push a little harder on that hole.”

Plourde’s charge into the lead was stymied when she was assessed a penalty stroke for picking up her ball while it was on the fringe of the 16th. She fell into a tie for second.

None of the girls were aware of the outcome until they turned in their scorecards.

“I knew it was close but I had no idea I had won,” Holmes said. “I thought I was behind. I thought I had to birdie the last hole.”

It was Holmes’ final year of eligibility for the tournament, which is played on her home course.

“Last time I won this I was in the eighth grade and I shot in the 100s,” she said. “This was my last year and it was kind of nice to pull it off.”

Despite her disappointment, Lacognata, who took up golf just four years ago, was happy to be in the final group with Holmes and Plourde.

“When I first started this two players were at the lead, so I’m glad I worked my way up to the top with them and I’m definitely getting better,” she said.

Sebastien Martinez, a 10-year-old from Yarmouth, shot a 4-over 40 for the second straight day while playing the back nine to win the boys’ 12-and-under division. The runner-up, Owen Moore of Pittsfield, also carded a 40 to finish with a total of 83.

Teddy Forsley, a 14-year-old from Scarborough, had a 5-over 77 to finish with a two-day total of 157 to capture the boys’ 13-15 division. He finished seven strokes ahead of Ryder Henry, a 15-year-old from New York who spends the summer at Northeast Harbor.

Ruby Haylock, an eighth-grader from Buckfield, recorded a 90 to finish with a two-day total of 183 to win the girls’ 13-15 age group.

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