Caleb Manuel won the 2021 Maine Amateur Championship at Kebo Valley Golf Club in Bar Harbor by one stroke. He will defend his title this week at Kennebunk’s Webhannet Golf Club. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

There’s a strategy for players going into the 103rd Maine Amateur Championship at Webhannet Golf Club this week.

On the front nine, just hang on. And on the back nine, light it up.

The 121-year-old Kennebunk course is playing host to its first Maine Amateur, three years after hosting the Women’s Amateur Championship. A field of 132 players, led by defending champion Caleb Manuel, will be in for a unique challenge on a par-71 layout positioned only a couple of tee shots away from the coast.

“It’s a very unique, classic, New England-style golf course,” said John Hayes IV, the 2015 champion. “It’s a short golf course, but the greens are very undulating. You can shoot low, or you can have a 75 pretty easily out there.”

Players could see their rounds take a wild turn for the better or the worse. Webhannet features a very difficult front nine, followed by a back nine that could set up well for birdies and eagles. At only 6,100 yards from the back tees, the course isn’t long – opening up the field to more than just the 300-yard bombers.

“I kind of like that. You’re going to see some seniors play pretty well, could shoot in the 60s,” Hayes said. “Or you could have a 15-year-old play really well. A course this short with these greens, it keeps everyone in the tournament.”

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The 54-hole tournament will begin Tuesday. The field will be cut to the low 40 players plus ties entering Thursday’s final round.

It’s not hard to find the favorite in the field. Manuel returns after winning last year by one stroke at Kebo Valley in Bar Harbor, and all the 20-year-old has done since then is finish runner-up in the New England Amateur, share medalist honors at the Big East Championship, qualify for and play in the U.S. Open, and come within three shots of making the cut in a Korn Ferry Tour event.

The two champions before him, Jack Wyman and Cole Anderson, each won back-to-back titles. Manuel is aiming to continue the trend.

“Caleb is definitely … the clear favorite to win this,” Hayes said. “But it’s golf, it’s amateur golf, and it’s amateur golf in Maine. So you never know what someone’s going to shoot.”

Manuel says he won’t be affected by the pressure of being the favorite.

“I don’t feel any,” he said. “I don’t think I will, just because I’ve been playing in a lot of tournaments. … I’ll be nervous a little bit, but it’s just another tournament, and whatever happens, happens. I’m not going to be putting too much internal pressure on myself.”

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Manuel is eager to add his name to the list of players who have won multiple Maine Amateur titles.

“It would mean a lot,” he said. “As a kid, it was a dream to win it, and to win it last year, it meant a lot. Defending it would mean just as much. It’s a tournament I always keep on the schedule no matter what I’ve got going on.”

Other contenders include Will Kannegieser, who was the runner-up last year and finished third in 2020.

“For me, it’s just being comfortable with the shots you need to hit around the golf course and figuring out what my strategy’s going to be, and making good decisions,” said Kannegieser, a Minot native who moved to Boston in June. “If I can go ahead and hit the shots I’m trying to execute, I’ll have a chance.”

Hayes is in good form, having won the Maine Mid-Amateur title (for players 25 and older) in June. The field also includes three-time champions Ricky Jones (2003, 2004, 2013) and Ryan Gay (2008, 2010, 2011), 2014 champion Andrew Slattery and 13-time champion Mark Plummer, who’s back after missing last year’s tournament. This year’s event is the 20th anniversary of Plummer’s 13th title.

On a course like Webhannet, putting and precision will loom large.

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“The real defense of the golf course is the greens,” said Eric Higgins, Webhannet’s head professional. “You’ve got to hit it in the right place, or it’s going to be tough. You can think you’re going to make birdie really quickly, but if you hit it in the wrong place, you’re going to have to try to scramble for par.”

Players will have to be ready for two different tests. The front nine is a bear, with two par-3s of more than 200 yards into challenging greens and another that features a blind uphill tee shot into a green guarded on both sides by bunkers.

“If you hit good shots, you can make 3s,” Higgins said. “But it’s easy to make bogey as well. And now you’ve put yourself behind the eight ball.”

On the back, though, specifically between holes 14 and 18, players will have a chance to make a charge. Two par-5s and two short par-4s, both coming in less than 325 yards, will give players a great opportunity to climb up the leaderboard.

“Joe Alvarez has deemed 14 through 18 ‘The Playground,’ because you can go 6 under in those holes if you’re playing well,” said Hayes, referencing the Webhannet player and third-place finisher last year. “If someone’s four shots out of the lead coming down that stretch, you can win the tournament. … (Holes) 14 through 18 is probably where the tournament is going to be won.”


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