YORK — It’s amazing what a little experience and confidence can do, especially on a golf course. With every hole he plays in the Maine Amateur Championship, Gavin Dugas is finding that out.
On Wednesday, Dugas, a Pittsfield native, shot his second consecutive even round in the Maine Am at the York Golf and Tennis Club. With many players recording high scores, Dugas is staying consistent, which was enough to have him among the leaders heading into Thursday’s final round.
“He’s maturing as a player. The bad shots are disappointing to him, but he’s able to overcome them,” said Mike Dugas, Gavin’s father and caddie for Wednesday’s round. “We had an unplayable on (hole) two. He was frustrated; it was a bad hop, but we just dealt with it and moved on.”
Dugas’ second round started out shaky, with bogeys on the first two holes. Birdies on four and six pulled Dugas back to even. After a bogey on nine and another on 16, Dugas finished his round with back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18. Disappointed that he missed some birdie putts, Dugas described his round as “a little shaky.”
“It was good going out early this morning, I think,” said Dugas, a Maine Central Institute graduate and former New England high school champion. “I think it’s going to pick up with the wind and get really steamy out here.”
The 2014 high school Class B state champion, this is Dugas’ fifth Maine Am. Last year at Waterville Country Club, he made the cut for the first time and finished 18th. This past season, Dugas played his first year of college golf at Southern New Hampshire University. The experience playing more tournament golf, including the NCAA Division II national championship, against stronger players has helped Dugas develop his game.
Dugas said he sees most of his improvement on the mental side of golf. He’s able to study the greens more. He pays attention to the way they break.
“I’m seeing some of the breaks in the green that I never saw. Before college, I was just setting up at it and hitting it. Now I look around a little more and try and analyze it a little more,” Dugas said.
That worked well on Dugas’ birdie putt on 18 Wednesday, when he worked with his father to study the break and sink the putt that evened his round.
“On this last putt, I didn’t see it breaking as much as it did, but my dad helped me,” Dugas said. “He just knows my game so well. If I’m not sure I want to do something, he can assure me that’s what I want to do. And he can read the greens very well.”
Dugas played the first two rounds of the Maine Am alongside three-time tournament winner Ricky Jones. Like Dugas, Jones was even on Tuesday, but the veteran shot two-under on Wednesday to put himself near the top of the leaderboard, two strokes ahead of Dugas.
“It was just one of those days where whenever Ricky had a good hole, we seemed to not, and when Ricky was having a bad hole, we couldn’t take advantage of it,” Mike Dugas, the head pro at Pittsfield’s JW Parks Golf Course, said. “To finish birdie-birdie, that got (Gavin) back in the mix.”
Judging from Dugas’ reaction to his tee shot on the par 3, 145-yard 17th hole, the birdie was an unexpected surprise. Dugas watched as his tee shot hit the back of the green, away from the pin, then smiled as it rolled back to within a few feet of the hole.
“I just said to him, sometimes misses can be good. That happened to be one of those times. He hits it so much further than I do; it’s such a different game,” Mike Dugas said. “He’s hitting a 50 degree wedge from 130 (yards), so I know he’s got spin on it. Now it’s just a matter of how much it’s going to come back.”
Dugas sank the birdie putt after his father reminded him to mind the speed of the green. A two is nice, Mike Dugas said, but hit it too hard and you’re looking at a four.
On 18, Dugas was able to hit the green in position to putt uphill, his goal throughout the round.
“As far as he hits it, we’ve got to get it like we had it here,” Mike Dugas said, pointing toward the 18th green, “putting up the hill. We were side hill all day, and those are tough putts to make out here.”
Often, Dugas will hit a 2 iron off the tee, rather than a driver. On Wednesday, that helped him consistently hit the fairways.
“I hit it pretty far. I can control it very well. With the driver, some holes you just don’t need it,” Dugas said.
On Tuesday, Mike carried the bag for his younger son, Eric, before caddying for Gavin on Wednesday. The plan was to caddie Thursday’s final round for whichever brother was in better contention. That will be Gavin. After making the Maine Am cut for the first time last season, Dugas sees the success he enjoyed in the first two rounds this week as the natural progression of his game. No matter what happens in the final round, Dugas knows he’s a better golfer, and still improving.
“I’m just going to try and focus, and play my game,” Dugas said. “I know I can shoot the numbers. We’ll see what happens.”
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
<URL destination=””>tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com
</URL>Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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