Tournament winner Bailey Plourde plays in the final round of the Maine Women’s Amateur on Wednesday at the Rockland Golf Club in Rockland. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)
ROCKLAND — Nothing, not even her co-leader hitting a shot out of a tree, was going to disturb Bailey Plourde’s laser-like focus on her own game at Wednesday’s final round of the Maine Women’s Amateur.
Plourde, 18, stayed focused and steady and won her first title going away at foggy Rockland Golf Club on Wednesday.
Plourde shot 78 for the second day in a row to finish the tournament +13 and win the championship, three strokes ahead of of runner-up Jordan Laplume.
After finishing second to three-time champion Staci Creech the last two years, Plourde went into the day trailing Laplume by one stroke. She tied it on the second hole, took the lead after four, then built a five-stroke cushion before reaching the back nine.
“I honestly didn’t even know that I was five up (heading to the 10th tee),” said Plourde, of Newcastle. “I mean, I knew I was up, but I didn’t know I was up five shots.”
“I knew I just had to keep calm again, try to keep the lead, try not to lose it,” she said.
Elizabeth Lacognata (+16), Kristin Kannegieser (+19) and Ruby Haylock (+19) rounded out the top five.
Plourde, a two-time high school state champion at Lincoln Academy and two-time runner-up in this event, tied Laplume after the latter bogeyed the par-4 second hole. After both bogeyed 3, Plourde grabbed a two-stroke lead with a par on 4.
Laplume, 17, essentially lost her share of the lead when her tee shot landed in a fir tree to the right of the fairway.
After finding her ball sitting on a branch about 3 feet off the ground, and a brief conference with a rules official, Laplume elected to hit it out of the tree rather than take a penalty stroke.
“It was actually a pretty good lie,” she said. “It was just sitting right out. I had a little tree trouble, but it really was the best spot it could be (under the circumstances).”
Laplume’s waist-high swing punched the ball to the other side of the fairway, leaving her about 100 yards from the hole for her third shot on the par-4.
Laplume might have been better off pulling a chain saw out of her bag to deal with the tree. At least it might have blown her co-leaders concentration.
“I guess, being up two after that hole … I mean, I felt good about it. But she could have come back at any time,” Plourde said.
Plourde shot par on the next four holes, while Laplume bogeyed 5 and 8 to fall four shots back.
Plourde’s only birdie of the round, at the par-4 ninth, gave her a five-stroke cushion. A couple of holes later, at the par-4 11th, Laplume could feel her hopes of winning her first Maine Women’s Am slipping away.
“At 11, I hit a great drive and then hit a poor chip and two-putted for par,” she said. “That is definitely a birdie hole. Par is par, but today, needed some birdies.”
Plourde didn’t feel comfortable until she’d widened her lead to six strokes with pars at 11, 12, 13 and 14.
“I knew if I stayed confident and kept calm that I could do it,” she said. “I’m always the one that puts pressure on myself. I wanted this one really bad.”
The cushion was more than big enough for Plourde to survive a sloppy finish of bogeys at 15 and 17 and double-bogey at 18.
Kannegieser, of Martindale Country Club, finished strong with the best round of the tournament, an even-par 73, to finish fourth.
Ruby Haylock of Turner Highlands Country Club more than held her own with the final group thanks to a strong short game that helped her save par several times for a 5-over 78.
“I was confident coming into today. I wasn’t worried,” said the 13-year-old from Hartford, who will enroll as a freshman at Leavitt Area High School. “Being in the final group gave me a little more confidence. It was a good experience.”
Stephanie Rodrigue of Fox Ridge Golf Club (+30) finished 10th.
Ruby Haylock of Hartford tees off in the Maine Women’s Amateur on Wednesday at the Rockland Golf Club in Rockland. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)
Ruby Haylock, of Turner Highlands Country Club, plays in Maine Women’s Amateur final round Wednesday at the Rockland Golf Club in Rockland. She finished the tournament in a tie for fourth. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)
Ruby Haylock, of Turner Highlands Country Club, plays in the Maine Women’s Amateur final round Wednesday at the Rockland Golf Club in Rockland. She finished in a tie for fourth. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)
Sue Wootton, left, gives a trophy to tournament winner Bailey Plourde after the Maine Women’s Amateur on Wednesday at the Rockland Golf Club in Rockland. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)
Leader after two rounds, Jordan Laplume plays in the final round of the Maine Women’s Amateur on Wednesday at the Rockland Golf Club in Rockland. Laplume finished second to Bailey Plourde. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)
Erin Holmes, of Vla Halla Golf Course, chips out of bunker on first hole of the final round of the Maine Women’s Amateur on Wednesday at the Rockland Golf Club in Rockland. Holmes finished tied for seventh. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)
Bailey Plourde lines up a shot on second green during the final round of the Maine Women’s Amateur on Wednesday at the Rockland Golf Club in Rockland. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)
Tournament winner Bailey Plourde plays in the Maine Women’s Amateur on Wednesday at the Rockland Golf Club in Rockland. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)
Tournament winner Bailey Plourde hits a tee shot during the final round of the Maine Women’s Amateur on Wednesday at the Rockland Golf Club in Rockland. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)
Tournament runner-up Jordan Laplume plays in the Maine Women’s Amateur on Wednesday at the Rockland Golf Club in Rockland. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)
Elizabeth Lacognata, of Falmouth Country Club, plays in the Maine Women’s Amateur final round Wednesday at the Rockland Golf Club in Rockland. She finished in third place. (Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal)
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