LEEDS — For the first time in Maine golf history, the state’s two amateur championship winners also won the junior championship titles.

Wednesday at Springbrook Golf Club, Freeport’s Eli Spaulding claimed the 16-18 boys’ title, while Hartford’s Jade Haylock claimed the 16-18 girls’ crown. Spaulding won the Maine Amateur Championship in early July, and Haylock claimed the Maine Women’s Amateur title a week later.

“It feels great, practice is finally paying off,” Haylock said.

Fourteen men have double-dipped to earn trophies in both the Amateur and Junior tournaments since the junior tournament’s inception in the early 1930s, while five women have achieved the feat, including Haylock’s older sister, Ruby. Haylock and Spaulding both previously won the 14-15 titles in 2021 and 2022, and Spaulding won the 16-18 boys’ title in 2022. Ruby Haylock won the 16-18 girls’ title in 2021 and 2022, and was the Maine Women’s Amateur champion in 2020 and 2022.

“I felt pretty good, I went into today with the same game plan (as Tuesday),” said Spaulding, who held a five-shot lead after the first round. “Just going out, playing my game and coming in with a five-shot lead, it’s a little different. There were a couple shots where I played a little more conservative, but at the end of the day, I was just trying to play the same; being aggressive and staying on the pedal.”

Spaulding, a Freeport High graduate, shot a 7-under-par 65 on Wednesday for the second straight day, finishing the tournament with a record score of 14 under, according to Maine Golf Executive Director Brian Bickford. Spaulding’s score included three birdies in a row on the back nine to end his final round with eight birdies and one bogey.

After shooting a even-par 72 on Tuesday, Haylock had a better back nine Wednesday – following up Tuesday’s 39 with a 36 – to end the tournament with a 71. Her two-round score of 1 under included six birdies, two bogeys and one triple-bogey.

Hole No. 11 gave Haylock the most trouble, as she tripled there on Tuesday. On Wednesday, she was able to scratch out a bogey thanks to a new strategy.

“I hooked it even more left this time than I did yesterday, and that gave me a chance to go over the tree with my 56 (degree wedge),” Haylock said. “So that was better, and then I almost got up and down to save par, but not quite.”

Haylock, a senior to be at Leavitt, said she felt her wedges going into the green were more consistent Wednesday, and she also felt better about her yardages and how hard she needed to swing the club. Even with the personal adjustments, Haylock held a wide lead, finishing 18 strokes ahead of runner-up Carley Iannetta of Falmouth.

“(This win) feels great, I’m really proud of myself,” Haylock said. “I’ve worked pretty hard this year.”

Spaulding’s tournament highlight, he said, was finishing with a birdie both days. He also said his six birdies on the back nine were a first for him.

Spaulding’s closest challenger was Kellen Adickes of Lincoln Academy. Adickes shot a 2-under 70 on Tuesday, then followed with a 68, finishing with a score of 6-under 138.

“I felt it was solid, there were no big mistakes, no compound errors, which I think was a bonus for me,” Adickes said. “Last few tournaments I played in, I feel like I’ve hit the ball well, (but) just had trouble scoring, and out here, I knew it was scoreable. I knew I was going to have to get after it to at least try to beat Eli, but finishing 6-under for the tournament, I’m very pleased.”

Adickes said that there’s “something to be said” about a Spaulding-Adickes duel on the greens, and the two play their best game when they’re up against one another.

Eli Spaulding, left, and Kellen Adickes chat Wednesday during the final round of the Maine Junior Championship at Springbrook Golf Club in Leeds. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Ryan Savona, who like Spaulding hails from Freeport and plays out of Brunswick Golf Club, won the boys’ 14-15 division, shooting a 72 for a two-day total of 1-over 145.

In the boys’ 12-13 division, Sam Sirois of Falmouth earned his third Maine Junior title with a total of 3-over 146.

Sirois said the highlight of his 73 on Wednesday was hole No. 16, because he “hit a very good 3 wood.”

Kaydence Allarie of Winthrop was the sole girls’ 14-15 competitor. She shot 228 across the two rounds.

On the boys’ side, previous players who won both the state Amateur and Junior titles were: Wilfred Girard, Royce Abbott, Ray Lebel, Dick Diversi, Jim Veno, Todd Read, Dann Ladd, Casey Bourque, Shawn Warren, John Hayes IV, Ryan Gay, Jesse Spiers and Caleb Manuel.

For the girls, Haylock joined a group that included her older sister, as well as Bailey Plourde and Jordan Laplume.

Haylock plans to compete in next year’s Junior Championship, vying for a fourth title, following her senior year at Leavitt. Spaulding will not, as he’s headed to the University of Loyola in Maryland to continue his golf career.

“As I finish my junior golf career here in Maine, it feels really good,” Spaulding said. “To end with a win is something that you can only dream of, and it’s something that you set out to accomplish at the start of the week. It feels really good to have met my goal.”