AUBURN – Early top scorers at the 88th Charlie’s Maine Open on Tuesday looked more like a who’s who among Maine amateurs, and with a slightly depleted professional field this week, it’s hardly a wonder why.

Shawn Warren, playing in the first group of the day, posted a 1-over-par 73. Three groups later, Ricky Jones, who won back-to-back Maine Amateurs in 2003 and 2004, bested that with a 2-under-par 70.

That stood as the low score until nearly 2 p.m. as golfer after golfer struggled around a wind-swept Fox Ridge Golf Club.

John Bauman of Kennebunk and 15-year-old Ryan Gay of Pittston each carded 75s while Ryan Flaherty of Vassalboro came in at 76.

By the numbers, Maine amateurs had good odds entering Tuesday’s first round. Of the 111 golfers who started Tuesday’s first round, 46 were listed as amateurs.

No walk in the park

Par 3s tend to get lower ratings in the handicap system because many of them are short. Not so at Fox Ridge, and the final hole statistics after Tuesday’s first round backed that up.

The two toughest holes in relation to par were the par-3 fifth hole – a 202-yard offering to a peninsula green – which played more than a stroke over par, and the par-3 16th hole – a 220-yard, downhill hole – which played to 3.943 strokes per golfer.

The other two par-3s, the 177-yard third hole and the 126-yard 13th, played 11th and 12th, respectively, in difficulty.

Above par

Mark Plummer, a 13-time Maine Amateur champion and the recently-crowned State of Maine champion for the Maine chapter of the New England PGA, finished his round of 80 early in the day.

“I just shot par,” Plummer quipped as he signed for his 8-over-par score.

Plummer wasn’t that far off.

Of the 105 golfers who finished Tuesday’s first round, the mean score was 81.6, with the front nine (41.5) playing tougher than the back nine (40.1).

There was just one eagle on the day – a three on the par-5 11th hole by Sean Gorgone, and just 151 birdies.

Bogeys, however, were popular. Golfers totaled 575 bogeys Tuesday, 165 double bogeys and 75 scores listed as “others.”