SANFORD – A little bit of youth, a bit of experience and a ton of golf talent rose to the top of the leader board after the first day of the 85th annual Maine Amateur Golf Tournament at Sanford Country Club on Monday.

Corey Poulin, a native of Jackman and currently playing out of Lakewood Golf Club in Madison, fired a 2-under-par 70 to take the early lead in the stroke play portion of the tournament.

“The game plan today was just to hit the center of the green,” Poulin said. “I wanted to play conservatively and not shoot myself out of the tournament today. I had missed the match play by one stroke in each of the last two years.”

On Monday, Poulin had his putter to thank for his low score. In all, Poulin had “at least” nine one-putts, one hole where he chipped in and no three-putts.

“I think I came in with about 23 putts all round,” Poulin said. “I just played the percentages and the putts fell for me today.”

Right on Poulin’s heels are defending champion Ricky Jones of Rockland and Tim Flaherty of the Woodlands Club, who shot matching 1-under 71s and were the only other two golfers to break par.

“It’s just so much more relaxed this year,” Jones said. “With 32 players going through to the match play round, it gives us a little breathing room.”

Lengthened by one day to accommodate an extra round of match play, the five-day tournament started with two rounds of stroke play to determine the field of 32 that will square off on Wednesday.

“Last year at Penobscot Valley, we surveyed the entire field as they finished,” Maine State Golf Association Executive Director Nancy DeFrancesco said. “It finished in an exact tie for those that wanted stroke play and those that wanted match play, but of those that wanted match play they all wanted to extend the field from 16 to 32 players.”

The course itself played tougher than Penobscot Valley did a year ago, with tighter fairways and slightly more distance from tee to green.

“This is a target course,” Toby Spector said. Spector is the reigning Maine schoolboy champion and opened with a 3-over 75. “At (Penobscot Valley) you could miss the ball three fairways over and be OK. Here you can’t even find your ball in the woods if you do miss the fairway. It makes it easier to be disciplined to fairways and greens, and I would feel safe here with two 75s.”

Last year, a pair of 74s were just enough to get Spector into a playoff for the final spot in the match play, which he won. He lost to the No. 1 qualifier last year, Jay Livingston, in the first round of match play on the 12th hole. Livingston, of Tri-City Golf, is again in the thick of things this year after posting a 76.

Joe Baker of Paris Hill posted a 77 on Monday, making him one of exactly 32 golfers to shoot that score or better. Craig Chapman of Fox Ridge carded an 80 to remain in contention for one of the 32 match play spots, while other local golfers Larry Ross of Poland Spring (83) and Dale Brown of Martindale (84) also had solid rounds.

Mark Plummer, who has won 13 times and been runner-up five others, fired a 75, which included a 35 on the front nine, to also remain in contention.