NORTH YARMOUTH — Austin Legge of Cape Elizabeth fired a four-over 75 for the second consecutive day Thursday to win the Maine Junior Amateur Championship at Toddy Brook Golf Club.
Legge, who will be a freshman at Cape Elizabeth High School in the fall, played a consistent back nine and pulled out a one-stroke win over Drew Powell of Bangor in the Maine State Golf Association’s 15-17 age group.
“Today, especially on the front nine, I didn’t feel (like) I was playing nearly as good as (Wednesday),” Legge said. “I birdied the first hole, but I had a streak of four or five bogies on the front nine. I just kept it consistent on the back nine. Things just came together and I made a bunch of pars.
“I was just looking to go out put up a low number. Just go out and play my game and see what happens.”
Legge, 14, spent this summer playing in the MSGA’s top division for junior players.
“I could have played in the 13- and 14-year-old division, but I really wanted the extra competition,” he said. “I just needed to know I needed to play well to win and that extra competition helped me.”
Powell, who played in the group right behind Legge’s threesome, shot a 73 to improve upon the 78 from the first round.
“I grinded it out better today, but the ball striking just wasn’t there,” said Powell, who shared the Class A state schoolboy championship last fall with Rich Mazurek of Rockland. “It was a complete grind, but I put together a score today, which is all you can do when you’re not hitting it well.”
John Witt of Kennebunkport and Lucas Roop of Gorham finished in a tie for third with a two-day total of 153.
Roop, an incoming sophomore at Gorham High School, fired a one-under-par 70 Thursday to post the lowest round in the 36-hole tournament.
“I was just trying to play it safe today and the putts were just dropping in,” said Roop, explaining how he cut 13 strokes from his first-round score. “I was playing pretty well and kept putting up some low numbers.”
Eric Dugas, the reigning Class B schoolboy champion from Pittsfield, finished fifth in the 51-player field with a 154. Mazurek, the first-round leader, shot an 89 Thursday after shooting an even-par 71 on the first day of the tournament. He held a two-shot lead entering Thursday’s round.
In the 13-14 division, Caleb Manuel ran away with the championship. On Thursday, the 13-year-old player from Topsham, fired a three-over-par 74 to finish with a two-day total of 147, 11 strokes ahead of runner-up Mitchell Tarrio of Augusta.
“I tried not to think about how much I was winning by, hole by hole,” said Manuel, explaining how he tried to remain consistent during the 36-hole event.
The golfers in the 15-17 age group played from the black tees (6,232 yards), while the golfers in the 13-14 age group played from the blue tees (5,894 yards).
In the girls’ 15-17 division, Lauren Schonewolf of Cape Elizabeth finished with a 36-hole total of 159 to finish one stroke ahead of Stephanie Rodrigue of Lewiston. On Thursday morning, Erin Holmes of Cumberland fired 75, the low score for the two-day event, but finished three strokes behind Schonewolf.
Jordan LaPlume of Saco recorded a two-day total of 160 strokes to finish first in the 13-14 girls division.
In the 12-and-under division, Ryan Stimson of Scarborough fired a one-over-par 35 Thursday morning in the nine-hole event to finish with a two-day total of 74, seven strokes ahead of Peter Malia, also of Scarborough.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Comments are no longer available on this story