Trails Jorgensen by five at Maine Open
By Justin Pelletier
Staff Writer

PORTLAND – At last year’s Charlie’s Maine Open, Bob Darling Jr. of Lewiston opened with a 5-under-par 67, good enough for a one stroke lead over Ryan Ouellette of Florida.

On Wednesday, even if the 47-year-old Darling had equaled last year’s mark, the road to the top would have been uphill. Darling shot a respectable 69 on a soaking-wet Riverside Golf Course that some players likened to walking on a sponge, leaving him five strokes back of leader Eric Jorgensen, 23, of Grandville, Mich., after the first day of competition.

“It was kind of an indifferent round,” said Darling. “The biggest thing on the first day is not to shoot yourself out of contention.”

Several golfers followed that popular advice. A total of 47 golfers in the field of 154 finished under par, including nine amateurs, on a course that in some ways was primed for low scoring.

“I had a feeling that someone was going to go much lower today,” said Ouellette, the defending champion who outdueled Darling on the final day last year.

Ouellette also shot a 3-under-par 69.

“Last year, the winner was at, like, 14-under or so, so we know we’re going to have to go lower,” he said.

On Wednesday, it was Jorgensen, the recent Michigan State graduate, who stole the show, posting eight birdies and no bogeys, including three of his first four holes and four straight to start the back nine.

One stroke behind Jorgensen is the low amateur in the field so far, Jason Gall.

“With all of the rain we’ve had, the course is doing really well,” said Gall, whose 65 included a 6-under 30 on the back nine. “I wasn’t expecting to play well at all, and I even bogeyed the second hole of the day, but recovered all right from there.”

The three low amateurs on Wednesday – Gall, Tom Bean and Mark Plummer – all hail from Augusta Country Club, and all have a legitimate chance at contending for the overall title as well as for the amateur title. Gall, however, is firmly in the driver’s seat in the amateur race.

Joining Gall at 65 is Kirk Hanefeld of International Golf Course in Bolton, Mass. Hanefeld is a four-time runner-up at the Maine Open, all those finishes coming in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, and he is also this years Greater Portland Open runner-up.

“I wasn’t having that great a round,” said Hanefeld. “In fact, I only played about one good hour-and-a-half of golf.”

In that final hour, Hanefeld birdied the final five holes.

“Those putts that weren’t falling on the first nine, they started to find the hole,” said Hanefeld. “The biggest thing was to find the fairways, though. Even then you weren’t guaranteed a good lie, but at least we got to lift, clean and replace the ball.”

“If you can keep the ball in the fairway, you’ll do all right,” agreed Gall. “We were able to lift, clean and replace the ball to its original spot today, and that helped, too.”

That policy came under fire from some golfers as the round wore on, some claiming that others were not only cleaning their balls, but moving them to a better lie in the process. To alleviate that problem altogether, MSGA officials are considering a lift, clean and place policy for Thursday that will allow players to move the ball to within a foot of the original lie.

Other local golfers competing on Wednesday included David Cummings of the as-yet-unopened Sunday River Golf Club, who shot 70, Adam Williamson of Oakdale with a 72, Corey Poulin of Sugarloaf at 73, Ron Bibeau of Turner Highlands with 75, Blake Eldridge of Springbrook with 76, Steve Hodgkins of Oakdale with 78, Jeff Lavoie of Lewiston and playing out of Riverside with an 82, and Curt Jordan of Martindale with an 84.

Lavoie enjoyed one of the biggest turnarounds of the day, coming back from a 46 on the front nine to post a 36 on the back.

The low 15 amateurs and the low 40 professionals will continue on after Thursday’s round.

jpelletier@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link