OAKLAND — Over the front nine holes on the second day of the Maine Amateur Championship on Tuesday at Waterville Country Club, Mark Plummer played like it was 1973. Or maybe it was 1986, or 2001, or any of the 13 times Plummer won this tournament.
Hole one, birdie. Hole two, birdie. Hole three, birdie.
“Out of the gate fast,” Plummer, 67, said. “I had a couple pretty good chances (for birdie) on four and five. Four, five, and six, actually.”
While Plummer didn’t keep up that incredible scoring pace, he did shoot a three-under 67, cutting into the lead of John Hayes IV with one day to go.
Hayes shot a 69, and is six-under for the tournament, two strokes ahead of Plummer. The pair will be joined in the final group by Sam Grindle, who was even on Wednesday and is one-under overall.
“I’ve never played with Mark,” Hayes, 25, said. “I’ve known him since I was 6 or 7. He’s a legend in Maine golf, so it’s great he’s playing well.”
Hayes shot a five-under par 65 on Tuesday, and looked on his way to putting the tournament out of reach with birdies on holes three and four on Wednesday. Three consecutive bogeys on holes six through eight briefly gave Plummer, who also birdied hole seven on the front nine, a lead.
“It was a struggle. It was birdie, bogey, birdie, bogey,” Hayes said. “I got under par. That’s what I was looking for.”
Hayes rebounded from his three consecutive bogeys with a birdie on hole nine, but bogeyed 10. Hayes sank a two foot putt to birdie 11, and birdied 15 as well.
“I missed some putts that I usually make today, but I made some I probably had no business making,” Hayes said.
The back nine at Waterville was again tough on golfers. For the second straight day, Plummer bogeyed the 228-yard, par 3 hole 13, and also bogeyed 16. Plummer recovered with a birdie on 17.
“It’s fair,” Plummer, of Manchester, said of the Waterville Country Club course. “There’s nothing tricked up about it. It doesn’t feel much different than play at home (Augusta Country Club).”
Grindle and Plummer began the day tied for second place at one-under. Like Plummer, Grindle started the second round strong, with a birdie on two and an eagle on the 460-yard, par five hole three. Grindle was at minus-3 for his round when he ran into trouble on the back nine. While he birdied 12, Grindle bogeyed 11, 13 and 16, and finished with an even 70 round.
“I started hot again, three under through three, then I kind of played a little conservatively. I wish I could’ve had a few shots back. Some of the putts, I had a few down hillers that were’t as quick as I thought they would (be),” Grindle said. “I was just afraid, playing in the afternoon, it would be a little drier, a little quicker.”
Maranacook Community High School graduate Luke Ruffing rallied after shooting a plus-seven 77 on Tuesday, scoring a one-under 69 on Wednesday. Ruffing birdied 17 and 18 to finish his second round well and get under par.
Plummer, who first played a Maine Amateur Championship at Waterville in 1969, has a chance to win his first Maine Am since going back-to-back-to-back in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Plummer, who has also been runner-up six times, missed the Maine Am last season due to an illness in his family.
“I’ve been stuck on 13 for a long time,” Plummer said. “I’ll go hole by hole (Thursday). See how it goes.”
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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