It is the highlight of the year for Maine’s amateur golfers, and well it should be.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 132 amateurs will be competing at the Waterville Country Club in the Maine State Golf Association’s 96th Amateur Championship with a strong taste of tri-county representation.

In addition to defending champion Andrew Slattery who lives in Minot and plays at Martindale, there will be many other area residents in that field.

Christopher Burns, 17, of Hebron, plays at Norway and Will Kannegieser, 18, of Minot is a Martindale member. Add to that list Zack DeBlois, 20, of Auburn, who is a player at Nonesuch River, and Daniel Bouttenot, 28, of Lewiston, out of Poland Spring. Brian Bilodeau, 30, of Auburn, is a member at Martindale along with another Auburn resident, Craig Chapman, 33, a Fox Ridge member.

Two more Fox Ridge members in the field are Chris Cloutier, 33, of Lisbon and Matthew Ouellette, 33, of Auburn. Mike Brennan, 41 of Otisfield, along with Joe Baker, both playing out of Norway, and Roger Williams, 48, of Turner and an Augusta member, will be at Waterville.

Baker, Bilodeau and Kannegieser qualified because they made the cut and were among the top 40 in the 2014 Maine Amateur, plus Kannegieser was the 2014 Maine Junior champion. Last year, Baker finished sixth, Bilodeau 19th and Kannegieser 22nd.Those three have the talent to be in the hunt come Thursday’s final round. Chapman gained entry by virtue of his top three finish in the 2014 Player of the Year ranking. Brennan, Ouelette and Bouttenot qualified June 29 in the make up of a rained-out June 22 qualifier at Fox Ridge.

After Wednesday’s second round in this 54-hole event, the field will be cut to 40 players, all of whom will qualify for next year’s Maine Amateur July 12-14 at York.

Mark Plummer of Augusta is the most decorated player in the field. At age 63, he won this tournament 13 times — 1973, 1976, 1982-84, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1996-97 and 2000-02 — which is the greatest record in the storied history of the Maine Amateur. Plus, he was runner-up six times. Plummer truly is an ageless wonder.

Tri-county players who have won this title include Dr. Ray Lebel (1940, 1942, 1958, 1961, 1965), who grew up playing at Martindale. Ray Fickett who plays at Norway, captured the crown in 1974.

The average age of the 132 players is 33.1, so it is a young but experienced field.

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On the MSGA Junior Tour on June 29 at Nonesuch River, AJ Parisi of Auburn (88) finished eighth in the 15-17 boys’ division, while Adam White of Lisbon (93) was 15th. Janelle Bryant of Gray (89) was third in girls’ 15-17 division.

The Junior Tour continued on June 30 at Biddeford-Saco, where Justin Keaney of Auburn finished third in the 15-17 boy’s bracket with a 79. Parisi shot 84 to come in ninth, and Nicholas Gammaitoni of Auburn was 16th with a 96. Tom Frumiento of Auburn had a 93 in the 13-14 boys division to finish 11th and Demetri Gammaitoni of Auburn was 13th with a 116. In girls’ 15-17, Janelle Bryant of Gray was 11th with a 102, and in 13-14 girls, Markelle Gammaitoni of Auburn was third with 113.

A third Junior Tour event was held July 2 at Bath, with Parisi of Auburn shooting a 77 to capture the boys’ 15-17 title. Adam White of Lisbon carded a 92 to finish 16th. In the boys’ 13-14 division, Iain Frumiento of Auburn had an 86 for a third-place finish, while Demetri Gammaitoni of Auburn shot 107 to finish ninth. In the girls’ 15-17 flight, Stephanie Rodrigue of Lewiston’s 78 was tied for the best score and Janelle Bryant of Gray had 92 for fourth place.

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In addition to the Maine Amateur this week, the MSGA is conducting a Senior Tour event tomorrow at Gorham and its weekend tournament regularly scheduled two-day competition Friday and Saturday at Sable Oakes.

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