He doesn’t want to start a new trend Sunday afternoon.

“I’ve only been a part of it the past two years, and both years we’ve won,” said Slattery, the reigning Maine Amateur champion from West Minot and Auburn’s Martindale Country Club. “I think we’ve got a great chance. On paper this is one of the most highly skilled teams I’ve ever been part of.”

The two-day tournament began Saturday at Concord (N.H.) Country Club.

New Hampshire has held the trophy through much of the tournament’s 80-year history, but Maine broke through with the 2012 title in Vermont and defended it at Martindale a year ago.

Never before has the Pine Tree State delegation won three consecutive championships.

“It’s one of the few times of year where we really get to represent our state,” Slattery said.

Getting there is a huge portion of the battle. There is substantial competition before the cooperation and camaraderie begin.

The Maine State Golf Association awards player-of-the-year points throughout the summer at all its sanctioned events. The top 10 men’s players and four seniors punch their ticket to tri-states through that system.

“It’s all the guys you see competing against each other in the Amateur and the Open and things like that. All the points from the weekend events get added up, and then the top 10 get invited first,” Slattery said. “It’s a year-long race. That’s why we’ll drive three hours to play on a nine-hole course on a Friday morning. It’s all about getting those tri-state points.”

Slattery was one of eight incumbents to make the trip from Group A.

They include match play champion Ricky Jones of Thomaston and Samoset Resort and Joe Alvarez from Berwick and Sanford Country Club.

“Those two are definitely our leaders,” Slattery said. “They’ve been at it for a lot of years.”

Joe Baker of Norway Country Club and Curt Jordan, a Minot native now playing out of Woodlands Club in Falmouth, join Slattery as local representatives and defending champions.

Matt Greenleaf, Mike Doran and Jack Wyman also were on the 2013 team. Johnny Hayes IV and Lance Bernier are the rookies, replacing Auburn’s Craig Chapman and Mike O’Brien.

“We lost a couple of people who have earned points in the past, but the guys who did make it are really good,” Slattery said.

Tom Bean, Ron Dery, Gary Manoogian and Lowell Watson are the senior representatives.

The tournament has a mini-Ryder Cup flavor, with Saturday’s unusual, true alternate-shot format bringing the three states together while spiking the mix with a strategic conundrum or two.

“You’re going out in groups of six and playing the other two states at the same time,” Slattery said. “And let’s say the guy from New Hampshire hits it into the woods and the guy from Vermont hits it straight down the middle. Do you try to kill your drive and get it close to the green, or do you lay up and keep it in the middle of the fairway?

“There’s really a lot of strategy. A lot of it depends on whether you’re up or down in your matches. It’s tons of fun. Three cards, six guys, three balls in play. It’s very interesting to watch.”

The groups are reduced to threesomes Sunday, with simultaneous singles matches settling the championship.

It has been a breakthrough year for Slattery, who rallied on the back nine to hold off Joe Walp and Greenleaf for the 54-hole amateur title at Woodlands. At the time, he said the tri-state title was his greatest previous achievement in golf.

Regardless of where it ranks on the list now, or how Maine performs, the weekend more than two hours from home will go down as a co-highlight of his season.

“I battle with Greeny (Matt Greenleaf) all summer, and now we finally get to hang out and be teammates,” Slattery said. “Last year we were the host team, but the other years, you’re not coming home at night, so you’re getting to spend time with the other guys and really getting to know the guys you’re usually playing against. That camaraderie makes it great.”

koakes@sunjournal.com

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