It’s one of the top golf events for young golfers on the state calendar. But Brian Bickford felt the Maine Junior Championship needed a shake-up.

The tournament, which features most of the state’s prominent high school and recently graduated golfers, is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday at Riverside Golf Course in Portland – and this year it will have a new twist. In addition to playing for individual titles in different flights, competitors will have the option to have a partner and play for a team championship in each age group.

“The last couple of years, we’ve had participation around 50 players, which is really kind of low,” said Bickford, the executive director of Maine Golf. “What we’re trying to do is spice it up a little bit. We think that by adding a team element … it could make for a lot of fun.”

The turnout suggests players are in favor of the change. Seventy-six golfers signed up for the junior championship this year, up from 52 in 2022.

“I think it’s going to be really fun playing with a teammate, but at the same time, you’re playing with a competitor (too),” said Marc Twombly, a Prouts Neck Country Club player and rising junior at Scarborough High who will be teamed with Jacob Moody of Waterville Country Club and Messalonskee. “It’s going to make it more enjoyable for everyone, not just certain people.”

Jade Haylock, one of the top girls playing along with Ruth Weeks and Carley Iannetta, said she’s unsure who her teammate will be, but added the new format likely appeals to more players.

“It might bring more people in to play, knowing ‘Hey, my buddy’s playing, so it might be fun if I go and play with them,’ ” said Haylock, who plays out of Turner Highlands Country Club. “The more prizes that there are that are able to be won, the more people are going to want to play.”

Titles last year went to Eli Spaulding (boys’ 16-to-18 flight), Mick Madden (14-15) and Ryan Farnsworth (12-13), and Ruby and Jade Haylock won the girls’ 16-18 and 14-15 flights. But the fields were small, so Bickford went to the players to find another a way to boost the tournament’s appeal.

“I copy other successful events, and the high school state championship is both an individual and team event,” Bickford said. “We have a junior golf committee that is comprised of all juniors. … They were like ‘How come we play all individual gross (score) events? We’d love some team events.’

“Sometimes, from the mouths of babes come great suggestions.”

The boys’ 16-18 flight will be without its defending champion as Spaulding, who shot 4 under to win by 11 strokes last summer, is playing out of state. It remains a deep field, however, with Twombly and Owen Moore, the defending Class A and C champions, and Kellen Adickes, a third-place finisher in the New England high school championships, among the players eyeing the top spot.

“Eli’s a very dominant player in the state. … If he’s not playing it’s opened the door for everyone,” Twombly said. “I’m feeling good going into this tournament. I feel like if I put two good rounds together, I could win this.”

The 14-15 flight will have its champion back in Madden, a rising sophomore at Cheverus; Joe Hansen, Ryan Woodward and Jack Quinn are also among the hopefuls in the group.

“Everyone plays their best golf in that tournament,” said Quinn, who plays out of Augusta Country Club and is going into his sophomore year at Gardiner High after finishing runner-up in Class B as a freshman. “(Madden and I) go at it a lot and we are both very competitive against each other. I think the biggest test for me is to beat Mick. I know other players can also play well.”

The girls’ 16-18 flight will feature Haylock, the top scoring female player at the high school championships last fall, Weeks, who won the Class A girls’ title at Greely last year as a senior, and Iannetta, a rising junior at Falmouth.

“It’s just fun to see all the different age kids, all the different games that everyone has and where everyone’s at,” Haylock said. “It’s fun to see how they’ll play … and what numbers they can put up.”

While turnout overall has improved this season, girls’ participation continues to lag. Nine girls signed up last year, and only six have done so this year.

“I wish we could get more girl participants,” Bickford said. “(There are) 30, 40 girls that play (in high school championships). And there’s probably 30, 40 girls who don’t qualify. So it’s kind of a bummer that we can’t get more girls.”

Haylock said better word of mouth would help.

“I think if it was advertised a bit more, if high school coaches told their kids about it, then maybe more female golfers would play,” she said.

Haylock added that some female players might feel intimidated about signing up for a championship.

“They might be thinking ‘I’m not the best player, maybe I can’t keep up with some of these other competitors, so I’m just not going to play,'” she said. “But I think they should definitely be playing. Any tournament play is going to be beneficial.”

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