OAKLAND — Golf never gets old for players like Lowell Watson, Mark Plummer and Ron Brown.

“You never run out of things to improve on. You never get it perfect,” Watson, 69, said after wrapping up a 1-over-par round on Day 2 of the 96th Maine Amateur Championship Wednesday at Waterville Country Club. “If it’s not the putting, it’s the driving. If it’s not that, it’s the bunker play. You just keep on trying to improve different parts of that and if it ever comes together all on the same day that’s what it’s all about.”

Even after more than a half century of playing the game, it is clear each still enjoys golf with similar passion to that of when they were younger.

After Plummer’s par putt on No. 18 rolled around the edge of the hole and dropped in — drawing a reaction from onlookers gathered on the clubhouse deck some 40 yards away from the green — the even-keeled, 13-time champ jokingly played to the crowd with a quick fist pump.

Prior to Plummer’s putt, Lowell could not help but talk about a shot he had hit during his round earlier in the afternoon where he went under one part of a tree and over another after his tee shot put him in trouble. The former Bucknell University golfer — who wore two different colored shoes, one striped orange and the other striped blue — scrambled to save par.

“I wore the school colors (Wednesday) so I could think young,” he said with a laugh.

Brown, who was playing in his 41st consecutive Maine Amateur, also could not help but crack a joke when asked if he was starting to tire of golf.

“It’s not a good time to ask me,” the 66-year-old Cumberland resident said before giving way to a smile. “It’s more fun on the first tee than the 18th green, but that’s the way it is. It’s a humbling game.”

While golf may remain both fun and humbling for the trio, each still continues to play it at a pretty high level.

Brown, who beat Plummer in a playoff in 1975 for the Amateur title in his debut, finished just below the cut line with a combined 13-over par for the two days.

Watson and Plummer, though, have shown just how much value craft and experience can have in a tournament setting. Plummer is a combined 4-under heading into the final day, and will be in the final group along with John Hayes IV (-6) and Sam Grindle (-1).

“It’s crazy how much older they are and they still play great golf. It’s cool to see. You can learn a lot,” Hayes IV, 25, said. “They can get the ball up and down and they have great putters. I can definitely learn a lot from them and I’m looking forward to playing with (Plummer Thursday).”

It is unlikely Watson will catch the top group on Thursday, but he has already put together a very impressive tournament — particularly given he and Truman Libby are the oldest in the field and will turn 70 in December.

The West Boothbay Harbor resident’s second round included an eagle on the par-5 third hole to go along with a birdie, two bogeys and a double bogey. He entered the final round tied for sixth at 4-over with Malcolm Oliver.

“We’ve got to hold up our end of the demographic,” Watson said. “It’s fun to come out here and, first, try make the cut and then, second, try to do as well as we can.”

Skill is a big part of what has allowed the field’s most seasoned golfers to continue to hang with players half and — in some cases — one-third of their age, but technology has played its role too.

“Actually, my distance isn’t that much different than from 20 years ago,” Plummer said. “I believe the technology helps to keep up as far as the distance goes, but it’s nothing compared to what some of these kids are hitting it. I hit it almost as far as I did, but it’s still 40 yards behind.”

Distance matters, but — as the group has proven — it is not everything.

“Sometimes it’s disheartening when they outdrive you by a 100 yards or you’re hitting a 6-iron and they’re hitting a little sand wedge in,” Brown said. “It does make a difference, but on a golf course like this you can get away with it. For a lot of the young players, if they don’t hit it straight it doesn’t do them any good on a golf course.”

Evan Crawley — 621-5640

ecrawley@mainetoday.com

Twitter: @Evan_Crawley

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