BRUNSWICK — The Brunswick Golf Club will host the Gorham Savings Bank Maine Amputee Open from July 11-14. Now in its fifth year, the tournament is expecting a field of around 40 players for the two-day, 36-hole tournament, set to take place on July 13 and 14.
The tournament was founded by John LeMieux, an amputee who lost his left leg in 2012 after a battle with sarcoma, a type of cancer that forms in bones and soft tissues.
LeMieux, 61, is a Topsham native and graduate of Mt. Ararat High School. He decided he wanted to have a tournament of this nature in Maine after traveling to Connecticut and Massachusetts to play in similar-style tournaments.
“To be able to experience an event like that was awesome, I saw how fun it was and how fulfilling it was for so many,” LeMieux said. “I thought to myself ‘we can have an event like this in Maine’ and we’ve had so much support behind it ever since.”
The first two years of the tournament were held at Falmouth Country Club before it was moved to Val Halla Golf Club in Cumberland in 2019. Despite the pandemic, the event was held at Brunswick last year and proved successful, according to LeMieux.
“To have this event at such a historic and well-kept course is a great opportunity for us,” added LeMieux. “They (Brunswick Golf Club) do a fantastic job.”
AJ Kavanaugh, the Director of Golf for the Brunswick Golf Club, expressed his excitement when talking about hosting the event.
“It’s quite a humbling experience, it’s an awesome event that we are excited to host once again here (at Brunswick),” Kavanaugh said.
Kavanaugh said that a junior member of the club, Ayden Marani, will caddie one of the disabled players.
The four-day event consists of two days of other activities leading up to the tournament and two days of the actual tournament.
Day one (Sunday) is an adapted golf clinic from 1-4 PM. The clinic, which LeMieux calls his “favorite part of the whole week” is open to all golfers with disabilities who are looking to work on their game.
“We have amputees coming in with handicaps (what a golfer is expected to score over par) as low as 1.8, and able-bodied golfers with handicaps as low as 4 and 5,” said LeMieux, who pairs the opening day groups and lets the scores determine how pairings will go on day two. “I always tell people, it’s just like the golf you see on TV without the talent.”
A corporate scramble is scheduled for Monday, and LeMieux said he had at least 20 teams signed up as of July 3. The 36-hole stroke play tournament commences on the final two days of the tournament. Apart from the tournament winner, several category winners will be named as well. Categories of disability where a winner will be named include; below the knee, above the knee, high lateral, upper extremity, and lower extremity according to LeMieux.
“It’s going to be a fun week that a lot of people, including myself, have been looking forward to for quite some time,” added LeMieux, who recently authored a memoir titled “Life is Greater than Limb” about his life after his surgery in 2012. “We all cut each other some slack out there and enjoy the moment while competing for something at the same time.”
MAINE AMATEUR OPEN ON THE HORIZON
Several Mainers will be representing golf courses on the Midcoast when the Maine Amateur Open takes place from July 13-15. The tournament will take place at Kebo Valley Club in the rolling hills of Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor.
Eleven members of Brunswick Golf Club will play in the annual tournament. Cade Charron, Jeff Cole, Derek Devereaux, Mike Doran, Will Kavanaugh, Caleb Manuel, Ryan Masse, Garrett Olson, Andy Spaulding, Eli Spaulding, and TJ Whelen will all travel to Bar Harbor for the 54-hole tournament. Brunswick’s 11 are the second-most from one golf course being represented, behind the 15 players from Biddeford-Saco Country Club.
“It’s becoming a trend,” said Kavanaugh said. “It’s just great for us, we have a special group of golfers.”
Matthew Brewer will represent Bath Golf Club in the tournament.
BACK-TO-BACK EAGLES
A rarity happened on June 1 at Brunswick Golf Club. Longtime member Dick Vashon finished his 18-hole round with back-to-back eagles on the 17th and 18th holes.
Vashon holed his approach shot from 97 yards out on the 17th before following that up with a hole-out from 147 yards on the 18th. He finished his round with a 78, +6 over par.
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