FALMOUTH — Ron Brown is proud of his longevity in amateur golf.

Brown, 70, will play in his 45th straight and final Maine Amateur Golf Championship at Portland Country Club, where he is a member. The streak speaks to Brown’s persistence and talent. Brown won the first Maine Amateur he entered in 1975 and his second 24 years later at age 50 to earn a lifetime exemption. He’s qualified for a variety of United States Golf Association national events, including the U.S. Amateur (twice), Mid-Amateur and U.S. Senior Open.

But to hear the Portland native tell it, his 45-year streak isn’t the most impressive in his family.

“My wife Debbie, she’s caddied every single Maine Amateur except the first one and we have never used a cart, not even when it was at Sunday River (in 2012). We walked last year at Belgrade Lakes,” Brown said. Debbie and Ron have been married 47 years.

Debbie will be on her husband’s bag Tuesday when the three-day, 54-hole tournament begins on the par-70 course. Brown doesn’t have illusions of winning. Never among the longest hitters, Brown said there are three holes at Portland CC he can no longer reach in regulation – the nearly 600-yard par-5 sixth, and the par-4 ninth and 18th holes that both feature lengthy uphill second shots.

“For me this course is a par 73,” Brown said.

“My goal is to try to make the cut. It’s as simple as that,” said Brown, who hasn’t reached the final round since 2011, the last time the tournament was at Portland CC.

Brown said he’ll continue to play golf. He enjoys going to the MSGA’s weekly senior events. A former finance director for Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Brown now works three days a week at Golf & Ski Warehouse in Scarborough.

“I guess you could say golf is a passion for me. It’s my only hobby. It’s the only thing I do besides the honey-do list in the wintertime,” Brown said.

Brown caught the golf bug as a kid. Growing up in the Riverton area of Portland, he could walk to Riverside Golf Course. He began caddying when he was “10 or 11,” and before long was walking to the course, walking 36 holes a day, then walking home. A graduate of Deering High, the University of Southern Maine and Husson (a master’s in business administration), Brown competed in local tournaments when he could.

He recalled playing in the Maine Open alongside professionals as a young adult at Riverside, and had a chance to win when a wayward shot to the green headed toward a newspaper photographer.

“He had one of those old box cameras on his shoulder and he’s trying to track the ball,” Brown said. “The ball hit the camera and bounced out of play, and I had to take a two-stroke penalty. I lost the tournament by one shot. I wasn’t too happy about that at the time.”

But as a young working man with a family (Debbie and Ron have two daughters, Michelle and Kelly), Brown didn’t play in the Maine Amateur until he was 26.

Brown won in his first attempt, beating Mark Plummer in a playoff at Fairlawn Golf and Country Club in 1975. Over the next two-plus decades, Plummer would get the upper hand, winning eight of his record 13 championships. Brown played bridesmaid four times, twice in years Plummer won.

“His daughters hated me because it seemed like I always beat him,” Plummer recalled with a hearty laugh. “We had a good rivalry and we’ve been good friends for a long time.”

Brown and Plummer are paired together for the first two rounds this year.

The defining moment of Brown’s career came in 1999. He had turned 50 and was playing at a high level. The Maine Amateur was at The Woodlands, which was Brown’s home course at that time. Brown and Debbie had just returned from the U.S. Senior Open.

But it wasn’t golf that Brown had on his mind when he hit the first tee at Woodlands. That morning Debbie had taken their daughter Michelle to the airport, where she embarked on a two-year stint with the Peace Corps in Africa.

Twenty years later, Brown’s voice still catches with emotions when he talks about how he felt that day. But over the next three days, he channeled a father’s apprehension into near flawless golf on what many consider one of Maine’s toughest courses, shooting 72-71-76—215 to win by six strokes. He was the only player to shoot par on the first day, led the tournament by six strokes after two rounds and won by six shots over old rival Plummer and defending champion Eric Crouse.

“I didn’t think of a thing. I just went out and hit shots. I didn’t really talk to anybody,” Brown said. “Unless you’ve had a daughter go away to Africa for two years, it’s tough to understand.”

“The harder the courses, the better he fared,” Plummer said.

Brown said when he was in peak competitive form and attending USGA qualifying events, he always told his wife he hoped the course would be tough.

“I always felt like I could shoot a 72 on a tough course just as well as I could shoot 72 on an easy course,” Brown said. “So I wanted it to be tougher for everyone else.”

Now, Brown concedes, he doesn’t mind making golf a bit easier by using forward tees.

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