FALMOUTH — Cole Anderson and Caleb Manuel have competed for championships at the amateur level. Now they’ll be sharing the stage at a professional golf tournament.
Anderson and Manuel, Maine’s top two amateur golfers, received sponsor exemptions Tuesday to play in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Live and Work in Maine Open, which will take place at Falmouth Country Club June 23-26.
The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental circuit for the PGA Tour.
The two players have won the last three Maine Amateur championships. Anderson won in 2019 and ’20, and Manuel won last summer. For Anderson, who plays at Florida State University, the Live and Work in Maine Open will mark his first professional tour event.
“You couldn’t really write it up as a better scenario for me,” said Anderson, 21. “I’m just really excited to have the opportunity to play a great event at a golf course that I know pretty well.”
Anderson, a Camden native, won the Maine Match Play championship at Falmouth Country Club in 2018.
“Any time you go to a golf course that you’ve had some success at, it brings up some good memories and some good feels and the type of stuff that you need to play good golf in competition,” he said. “It’s been a while, so I’ll definitely need to take advantage of the practice rounds.”
Two of Anderson’s former FSU teammates, John Pak and Vincent Norman, play on the Korn Ferry Tour. Anderson said he’s eager to use the Live and Work in Maine Open as an educational opportunity.
“To pick their brains on what life is like now and how the tour operates, it’ll be another great learning experience to keep me moving in the right direction,” Anderson said.
For Topsham’s Manuel, 20, the announcement came one day after he qualified for next week’s U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
This marks Manuel’s second consecutive year at the Live and Work in Maine Open. He won a qualifier to get into the event in 2021, but missed the cut.
“I’ll definitely set different goals than last year,” said Manuel, an individual co-champion at the Big East championship this spring while playing for the University of Connecticut. “You want to contend and have a chance in this thing.”
Manuel shot 50 for his first nine holes last year, then bounced back to play the remaining 27 holes at 2-over par.
“I feel that’s the best way to learn,” he said. “Last year I obviously wasn’t comfortable in the first round, I learned and I played better in the second round. And I felt more comfortable at the U.S. Open (qualifier). The more experience, the more comfortable you get.”
Manuel said returning to the Live and Work in Maine Open was a goal for this summer.
“I try not to have too many expectations,” he said. “I’m just going to do the best I can and treat it like a normal tournament.”
James Nicholas and Matt Organisak, both of whom play on the Korn Ferry Tour, also received exemptions to play in the event.
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