Jeff Willett, a Winslow native and longtime caddie on the PGA Tour, is working with a new pro this season. Willett is now working with Nick Taylor, a young player who went pro in 2010.

“He’s a young Canadian guy,” Willett said on Wednesday afternoon in a phone interview. When reached, Willett said he and Taylor were 10 minutes from teeing off in the Barracuda Championship Wednesday Pro-Am in Reno, Nevada.

Last year, Willett spent some time caddying for tour veteran Chez Reavie, and he was on the bag for David Toms in the fall. When Toms went back to his former caddie, Willett networked and found his job with Taylor.

“Networking, that’s how it goes,” Willett, who caddied for Justin Hicks in 2014, said.

Taylor is currently in 109th place in the FedEx Cup standings. Taylor shot a three under 69 in Thursday’s first round of the Barracuda Championship. Taylor had three birdies through the first 13 holes, before back-to-back bogeys on 16 and 17. He rallied with an eagle on 18 to finish the round strongly.

Last weekend, Taylor tied for 12th place at the Quicken Loans National at Congressional Country Club in Maryland. His best finish this season so far is a fifth place tie at the Puerto Rico Open in March.

After the Barracuda Championship, Willett and Taylor have an unexpected week off. With the flooding in West Virginia, the Greenbrier Classic was cancelled. Upcoming tournaments include the Barbasol Championship, July 14-17 in Alabama, and the Canadian Open, July 21-24 in Oakville, Ontario.

“He’s been playing really well,” Willett said of Taylor.

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The New England Women’s Golf Association championship was played this week at the Country Club of Vermont, in Waterbury Center. The top Maine player was Bailey Plourde of Samoset Country Club, who placed 15th. After two solid days, Plourde struggled in Thursday’s final round, shooting 82.

Other Maine golfers in the tournament were Melissa Johnson of Martindale, who tied for 23rd, Prudence Hornberger of Turner Highlands (31st), Carrie Langevin of Augusta (34th), Neila Nelke of Martindale (76th), and Gail Gleason of Samoset (77th).

Katie Barrand of Myopia Hunt Club of Massachusetts won the tournament. Barrand birdied her final two holes on Thursday to take a two stroke win. No Maine golfer has won the tournament since 2001, when Waterville’s Abby Spector took the championship. Spector also was New England runner-up in 1999 and 2002.

• • •

The Paul Bunyan Tournament this past weekend was a lesson in rules and sportsmanship for golfers of all ages.

Before a sudden death playoff was about to begin between Will Kannegieser and Chris Cloutier, Kannegieser asked for a ruling. In the first round the previous day, Kannegieser couldn’t find his tee shot on hole 15, and he took a second shot. He then found his original shot, and played his original ball for the rest of the hole. By doing that, Kannegieser was in violation of USGA Rule 15, which covers playing the wrong ball, and he was thereby disqualified from the tournament.

By bringing attention to his rule violation, Kannegieser made the sudden death playoff moot, giving Cloutier the win.

The Paul Bunyan is a rare tournament in that it’s played on two courses. Saturday’s opening round was played at Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono, with Sunday’s final round at Falmouth Country Club.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM