Unfortunately for those doing the chasing, the front runners were too strong.
First round leaders Logan Thompson, in the 15-17 boys’ division, and Bailey Plourde, in the girls’ division, held onto their leads from Tuesday and both finished off victories at Val Halla Golf Course.
“Staying in the lead when you’re in the lead the first day might be the toughest thing to do,” said Thompson, of Lincoln. “I just had to make sure that I played my own game. And, well, I did that I guess.”
Thompson knows from experience how hard it can be to replicate day-one results in the two-day tournament. Just last year he was two shots off the lead before faltering while playing in the final group.
Fast-forward a year, and Thompson played solid, if unspectacular, to round out a six-shot win over Topsham’s Caleb Manuel and Camden’s Cole Anderson. Thompson carded a 3-over 75 after shooting a 73 on Tuesday to finish at 4-over 148.
“It was tough because Logan played so consistent and we couldn’t really keep up,” said last year’s champ, Cape Elizabeth’s Austin Legge, who played in the final group Wednesday with Thompson. “I’m happy to lose to a kid who plays really well. And that’s what he did. He just played so consistent, and he definitely deserved that win.”
Thompson held a two-shot lead over Thomas Higgins and a three-shot lead over Legge, Manuel and John Witt. The lead grew to five shots over Manuel at the turn, then shrunk to as little as two over Manuel on the back nine. But the new champ finished strong by going par, par, birdie on the final three holes.
“I think I was on 14 or 15 and I heard that (Manuel) was 3-over, and I think I was 3 at the time too,” Thompson said. “So I thought if I just finished out even with the round that I would be in a pretty good spot, since I had a three-shot lead on him to begin with the day.
“I was just doing the same thing as yesterday. Hitting it right down the middle, hitting greens, two putts, just getting pars, grinding out the round.”
Higgins was alone in fourth with a 9-over 81 and a two-day total of 156. Legge struggled to a score of 162 with a second-round 86 and tied for 10th.
Plourde, who didn’t even play in the event last year to due to a schedule conflict, was even more solid than Thompson. The Newcastle native found herself tied with Val Halla member Erin Plourde at the turn, then parred each of the last nine holes to finish with a 5-over 77 and a tournament score of 152.
“It feels good,” Plourde said. “It got a little rough out there, and I was glad I could pull it through.”
Plourde held a one-shot lead over Holmes after the first round, and a three-shot lead over defending champ Lauren Schonewolf and Val Halla member Rachel Smith. She kept that lead for the first eight holes, overcoming a shot into the woods on the sixth hole to save for a double bogey, before finding trouble on the ninth and shooting a triple bogey.
Holmes, who parred just one hole of the first eight holes, nearly also ran into trouble on the ninth hole, but her second shot took one bounce off a water hazard and landed in the first cut. A par knotted her up with Plourde heading to the back nine.
“Definitely at the turn after that, definitely had a spark of motivation there,” Holmes said of her lucky shot.
“I did know it was really close,” Plourde said. “I knew I just had to play my game on the back.
“I’ve had rounds where I had to bounce back from some bad shots or bad holes, so I knew I could do it. It was just trying to focus. I have the ability, I just had to do it.”
Plourde said it was that focus that helped her over the final nine holes. Even when Holmes birdied the 14th to get within two shots, Plourde kept plugging along with pars.
The greens, which hurt Plourde on Tuesday and saved Holmes on her home course, played the opposite for the pair in Wednesday’s final round.
“I was not sinking the putts today,” Holmes said. “It is what it is.”
Being in the lead after the first round was a welcome spot for Plourde, who played a horrible opening day in her last Maine Junior Championship two years ago.
I was 10 shots back after the first day. So I wanted to come back,” Plourde said. “I just wanted to win this.”
Schonewolf finished in third with an 85 and a two-day score of 163. Smith was fourth, while Lewiston’s Stephanie Rodrigue shot a two-day 174 for fifth.
Armand Ouellette of Saco won the 13-14 boys’ division with a final-round 85 for a two-day score of 24-over 168. He edged out Nick McGonagle by one stroke.
St. George native Parker Hilchey won the 12-and-under division by shooting a final-round 42 over nine holes. His two-day score of 85 beat out second-place Alden Griffiths by six strokes. Hilchey said after his victory that he had “never won anything this important before.”
Like Thompson and Plourde, Ouellette and Hilchey were the leaders in their division after the first round.
wkramlich@sunjournal.com
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