PORTLAND – For Will Robinson, 18, of Cumberland, his first round in the 87th Charlie’s Maine Open at Riverside Municipal Golf Course was the round of his young life.
For two pros, it was the renewal of a long-standing friendly rivalry that took them from Massachusetts, into the South and now to Maine.
Justin Goodhue and Brent Wanner, both 24 and from Massachusetts, grew up playing junior golf against each other. Goodhue went to the University of Virginia for college, and Wanner attended Wake Forest. The two rivals again squared off as members of rival ACC golf teams.
Now, they are headed for a possible showdown this weekend.
Goodhue, out in the third group of the day, fired an 8-under-par 64 to set the pace. Wanner followed in the middle of the day with a 9-under-par 63 and wrenched the tournament lead from Goodhue.
Goodhue, Robinson, John Connelly and Brennan Webb are one stroke back while Joe Clark, Jr. of Holderness, N.H., a former Maine Open champion, is two back. Jerry Diphilippo of Portland Country Club and Greg Sandell of Purpoodock both shot 66 and were three shots out.
“I came out here after the pro-am yesterday and shot a 69,” said Wanner. “I couldn’t sink a putt. Today, I couldn’t miss.”
Wanner was 5-under on the front nine, and drained an eagle putt on the 13th to help himself to a 4-under 32 on the back.
Goodhue might have tied Wanner but for a hiccup as his round drew to a close.
“I kind of got out of my groove a bit on 16,” said Goodhue. “Someone asked where I stood and I started to think about it. By the time I go to the green, there was all this commotion. If I have to learn how to deal it at all, though, that’s a good thing.”
Goodhue made a bogey at 16 and three-putted for par on the short par-4 17th, before righting the ship with a birdie on the final hole.
“I shot a 65 in my last round at the Portland Open earlier this year,” said Goodhue. “And there, I felt I left a few out there, so I felt I should come back and see if I could put up a couple of low numbers out here. I feel like this course was built for me.”
Despite a 35-minute weather delay in the early afternoon, every golfer completed the first round. After the rain, Robinson played his final two holes in 3-under par to post a career-low 64.
“It’s still hitting me,” said Robinson, turning to his caddie. “I really can’t putt, though. He read all of my putts for me. I just swung the club.”
Robinson holed out from the fairway on the 17th hole to drop to 7-under, and then chipped in on the 18th to finish his interrupted round.
Webb, meanwhile, was just happy to be playing in the tournament as an alternate entry. In playing his final round in just more than four hours, Webb shot a 31 on the front nine and a 33 on the back, including three straight birdies to finish.
“I’m glad I showed up,” said Webb.
The final group played the 18th amid fog that had started to settle, long after the sun had disappeared.
Earlier in the day, last year’s low professional, Todd Westfall, dragged himself around the first nine after teeing off first at 7 a.m.
“I was yawning down the fairways on the front,” said Westfall. “I didn’t start golfing until the back nine.”
Making the turn at 2-over-par, Westfall made birdies on Nos. 10, 13, 14, 15 and 16 and narrowly missed another on 17 to fire a 3-under-par 69, putting him in 18th place after Day 1, tied with 15 other golfers, including amateur Jesse Speirs of Bangor.
“I’m not putting as well as I have been,” said Westfall. “Tee to green, I was hitting the ball well. I had in mind something in the 60s, a 66 or 67 today, so a 69 isn’t out of it.”
Also at 69, is Riverside assistant pro and a former pro at Martindale and Turner Highlands, Ron Bibeau, who started hot with a 2-under 33 on the front before stagnating a bit on the back.
“This is the round I was looking to start with,” said Bibeau. “I thought I played pretty well.”
Bob Darling, Jr. of Lewiston and Fox Ridge Golf Club in Auburn followed a 1-under-par 35 on the front with a 3-under 33 on the back to finish with a 68. Like the 32 players in the field who broke 70 Thursday, Darling was far from disappointed.
“I didn’t shoot myself in the foot today,” said Darling. “That’s what’s important.”
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