As competition heats up with the temperatures, we follow the obvious like the Maine Amateur, but there are some events that don’t get as much attention that are worth watching.

One was last Monday at Mount Pleasant CC in Boylston, Mass. A pair of Maine Pros – Bob Darling and John Hickson – tied for the New England PGA Pro-Pro Stroke-Play championship. NEPGA has several championships each season and our local pros can play with the best of those in the other five states.

Hickson, now at Sunset Ridge in Westbrook, is well known from his Bethel Inn Days. Darling needs little introduction in this area. Both are always among the Maine favorites in any tournament and will be watched at the Greater Bangor Open and the Maine Open. The pair fired a 132 to tie the defending champions in the event.

As much as they enjoy playing these events, most of our local pro’s time is spent teaching the game. They get involved in many ways. Wednesday is Junior Golf Day, a clinic devoted to kids with little or no experience in the game. The nearest clinic is at Springbrook and those interested should call Al Biondi for time and details at 946-5900.

Slated for next Sunday at 3 p.m. is a Day on the Links for Maine Special Olympians. Thirteen clubs around the state will host these special clinics put on by Maine PGA Professionals and the Maine Golf Hall of Fame. Those wishing information should call the nearest club for details. The participating clubs are Augusta, Bangor Muni, Brunswick, Kebo Valley, J.W. Parks, Martindale, Presque Isle, Sable Oaks, Rockland, St Croix, Sugarloaf, Waterville and York. A fund raising tournament for Special Olympics will be held at Springbrook Aug. 18.

Another Maine pro is filling a need. Point Sebago director of golf Sean Kicker told me 22 percent of all golfers are women, but only four percent of juniors are females. His answer was to offer free clinics for girls and he was pleased with the response. At a mid-week clinic he had 12-15 girls and they were all hitting the ball well after an hour. Most indicated a desire to continue and get involved in the sport. He will hold another clinic this afternoon at 4 p.m., so if you have a young lady in the home, head for Point Sebago today.

After some heavy travel I finally had the chance to play closer to home. Wednesday I joined Poland Spring superintendent Dick Fahey for a round, and it was a real education. Playing with a professional might help my game, but touring the course with a superintendent is a real eye opener in other ways.

Fahey has spent 16 years caring for one of Maine’s oldest courses and, at least half of those, he has been working to restore it to the original Donald Ross design. Some of the members aren’t happy with the new fairway bunker on No. 14, but that’s the way the original plan laid it out. Some old tees have been discovered, which will add challenge from the back once Fahey can spare the time from dealing with every day maintenance.

A strange weather sequence in early spring caused a lot of damage at a number of courses. By the end of the first week in April a warm spell had awakened the dormant grass and everything looked great for the start on the season. Then came more snow and a hard freeze. According to the veteran greenskeeper, this causes the crowns of the grass to split and dry out, killing it.

It’s been a battle, but the fairways have come in beautifully and the greens are coming along. As Fahey says, by the end of the month you’ll never know there was a problem, but he and his fellow superintendents are always fighting against the weather. We can thank them for producing quality golf in a short season.

In another outing the famed Tuesday foursome got together for the first time this year. Wanting a road trip to someplace we wouldn’t get to often, we chose Ragged Mountain in New Hampshire, where we knew no one would have an advantage.

Over the last few years we have discovered places in every direction from home where we can get the most breakfast for our buck and the route to Ragged has one of the best. How about two eggs, bacon, ham, home fries, pancakes, toast, coffee and beans for $5.50? Fueled by that, there was no need to interrupt a round for lunch.

Another reason for the choice was so I could check out the changes. Few new courses have developed a reputation for difficulty as fast as this mountain layout.

A sign in the pro shop is explicit. The tips are for zero handicappers or better and the next set for 0-10. The next set should be played by 11-20 handicappers, with 21-plus the forward tees. The tees are marked like ski trails, double black-expert, black-advanced, blue-intermediate and green-novice. We chose the blue squares.

The changes are evident. Some fairways have been widened. On the holes that traverse the mountainside the big trees that separate the fairways are still there, but the underbrush is gone leaving stray shots tough to hit, but at least they can be found. Some holes with tough approaches have had greens and landing areas extended.

The work is continuing and it will get better. Ragged is never going to be an easy golf course, but it will be fair when all is done.

Hey, the golf course will always win. We just want to keep the margin of victory from becoming embarrassing.

Dave Irons is a freelance writer who lives in Westbrook.

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