BELGRADE — Kyle Evans isn’t sure what holes at Belgrade Lakes Golf Club will drive the participants crazy in this week’s Maine Amateur Championship. Maybe it will be No. 1. Maybe it will be No. 7. Maybe it will be the 558-yard par-5 16th, the longest hole on the course.
“The first (hole), maybe it’s jitters. There’s no driving range, so people aren’t warmed up,” said Evans, the longtime course director at Belgrade Lakes. “Seven demands accuracy. Keep it in the fairway and you’re going to do great.”
Belgrade Lakes Golf Club, 17 miles north of Augusta, opened in 1999 and is hosting the Maine Am for the first time. Defending champion Jack Wyman tees off at 7 a.m. Tuesday.
“Yeah, the Maine Amateur is always kind of a special time of year. It’s when everyone kind of gets together and gets to show off their best stuff, and this year it’s at Belgrade so it’s a treat for everyone. I think we’re all pretty excited to get up there and play,” Wyman said.
Getting the Maine Amateur to Belgrade Lakes happened quickly, last year, when the Maine State Golf Association needed to change venues because of the sale of Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono.
“We knew that (Penobscot Valley CC) weren’t happy with the condition of their golf course and we always want to provide top conditions for a championship of this caliber,” said Nancy Storey, executive director of the MSGA. “Their 100th anniversary is coming up and hopefully we’ll be able to consider them as a site for the championship in the year of their centennial.”
The MSGA has a list of criteria it uses to select courses to host tournaments. First is the condition of the course and its challenge to the players. Other considerations include practice areas, parking, food facilities, scoring area and location. The MSGA tries to move the tournament around the state, avoiding the same region for more than two years in a row.
“We as a staff select sites based on input from players, our tournament committee and invitations from the clubs themselves. It is then approved by the tournament committee before we sign a contract and we try and schedule them five years out,” Storey said.
When it first opened, Belgrade Lakes’ clubhouse was a trailer, but the course has checked off all the right boxes for hosting the Maine Am for years. The question was, did Belgrade Lakes want to host the tournament?
Belgrade Lakes is a destination course. Featured in golf publications as one of the top public courses in the nation, Belgrade Lakes draws many golfers from around the country. From July through September, greens fees at Belgrade Lakes are $175 with a cart. On a typical July day, the course hosts 80 to 110 players. Closing for three days to host the Maine Amateur at the height of the busy season was something Evans and the course directors had to discuss.
“For us to close three days in July, you know, that’s our season. We’re always very leery of that. But it’s been almost 20 years now, and we feel it’s time to let some people see it. It’s a great venue for people to watch off the back deck here. They can see four holes and we think it’s going to be very exciting and worth our efforts to do something like this,” Evans said. “We looked at it and looked at all angles as to what would be best for Belgrade Lakes. It just came out well with the MSGA as well. The timing was there.”
Players who qualified for the Maine Amateur were allowed to play a round at Belgrade Lakes for $30. Most took advantage of the offer, Evans said.
“You have to play here a few times to get a feeling for the greens and some of the different features we have out here, the right places to miss shots. You can be in a position where you’re dead,” Evans said.
Having the tournament at Belgrade Lakes is adding excitement. Storey said more players tried to qualify for this year’s tournament than any since the 2011 tournament at Portland Country Club.
“I’m very happy Belgrade was able to accommodate us this year. There’s no doubt they’re one of the premier facilities in Maine, and it’s obvious that our players are very excited to play there,” Storey said.
Current PGA pro Lucas Glover holds the Belgrade Lakes course record at 62, Evans said, and he’s looking forward to seeing if anybody can post low scores this week. Touring the course Monday morning, Evans pointed out a few holes that could challenge the field. No. 5 is a 174 yard par 3, but depending on pin placement can be tricky.
“This green can grab ya. It slopes a lot more than it looks,” Evans said.
No. 7, one of the holes that first jumped to Evans’ mind when asked what could play toughest this week, is narrow. A bunker sits to the left of the green with a grassy hollow to the right. There, players can expect a tough right to left roll. Nos. 8 and 12 are unique in that they share a tee box, although for tournament play, they will be separate. At 334 yards, No. 15 could be a driveable par 4 for some players. Of course, it’s immediately followed by the long No. 16, with a lone tree just off the left side of the fairway. The course will be mowed each morning during the tournament, Evans said.
“It’s going to a fun course to play for a few weeks, too,” Evans said. “… The greens are a little faster than usual and the rough is a little higher.
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