BOOTHBAY – Down three holes after seven on the first day of match play at the 86th Maine Amateur, Winthrop’s Blake Eldridge felt like he was headed into a fog – and a quick exit.
As the morning fog lifted from the fairways at Boothbay Country Club, Eldridge likewise emerged from his funk after veteran player Gary Manoogian of Falmouth found the hazard on the eighth hole.
“I was just kind of stuck in a rut,” said Eldridge. “I wasn’t playing well early, and he took off. But that’s the thing about match play is that you really are never out of it that early.”
After Manoogian gave Eldridge a stroke back on the eighth, the Springbrook golfer birdied three of his next five holes, wresting the lead from Manoogian.
“That’s where it turned,” said Eldridge.
Manoogian won the 14th and 15th holes, but Eldridge turned around and made birdie on the 16th to put Manoogian dormie. The two then halved the 17th, giving Eldridge the 2-and-1 win.
Two groups behind Eldridge, Dan Hargreaves of Auburn fell behind early when Bob Adams of the Ledges birdied the first two holes to take a 2-up lead.
“When he started, that’s like Hey, you doin’?’ right off the top,” said Hargreaves. “I actually went three down after six, too.”
Hargreaves, who played with the same ball in his practice round and all three rounds this week, started to claw back. He got one back on the front and saved another, splattering himself with mud as he hit from a hazard. On the back nine, he again dropped to three back on the 12th, but rallied by winning the 14th and 15th to pull within one.
“I couldn’t get any closer, but I had my chances,” said Hargreaves.
From 15 feet out on the 16th hole, a two-putt would have defeated Adams. Hargreaves took three. On the 17th, after a nice tee shot to eight feet on the short par-3, Hargreaves left his downhill putt three inches short. On the 18th, after hitting a cut shot that forgot to cut, Hargreaves nearly made the par-5 green in three anyway, but his recovery shot clipped a branch and fell short. Even his up-and-down to make par, which was impressive by itself, ended one stroke short of taking the match to extra holes.
“It was a day of woulda, coulda, shoulda,” said Hargreaves. “That 18th was the story of the day in one hole, but I was definitely just happy to be here in match play.”
The younger players had a difficult time Wednesday. Playing between Eldridge and Hargreaves, Ryan Gay, 14, of Gardiner wilted late in a 2-and-1 loss to Todd Kirn. Jeff Wass of Rockland knocked out 16-year-old Michael Hersey of Presque Isle, and Nate Nealey eliminated Joe Flowers, 16, of Waterville.
Favorite and No. 1 seed Shawn Warren had an easy day, eliminating Nick Pelotte of Waterville 5-and-4. Joe Alvarez is next up for Warren after he defeated Will Robinson, last year a standout for Greely High School, 5-and-4. Eric Higgins upended Tobey Buteau 5-and-3 and will face Wass in the next round.
In the only extra-holes match of the day, James Frost Jr., who plays for Southern Maine, survived a three-putt on the 18th holes to win 1-up in 19 holes against Scott Barnicle. Frost will face Tom Bean.
Nealey advanced to face Corey Poulin of Lakewood after Poulin knocked out Chris Delamater of Norway 4-and-2, and Eldridge will square off against Jason Gall of Augusta Country Club, the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Gall defeated Lance Libby 4-and-3.
Kirn faces Adams in the 7-10 matchup, while Scott Stone, the co-medalist after Day 1, advanced to face Scott DeWitt of Biddeford/Saco.
Two-time defending champion Ricky Jones cruised to a 4-and-3 win against Michael Napolitano Jr. of Riverside in Portland. Jones will face former professional Marc Siewertsen in the second round.
After playing down to eight players in this morning’s first session, the remaining golfers will pair up and the field will shrink to four by day’s end. The semifinals will be Friday morning, with the final following immediately.
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