The summer is winding down, but there’s still a few golf tournaments yet to play.
The Maine State Golf Association match play championship will be played at Waterville Country Club next week. The three-day tournament features five rounds. The first two rounds will be played Tuesday, Aug. 14, quarterfinals and semifinals on Wednesday, and the finals on Thursday. The tournament is an invitational. The top 16 finishers (and ties) from last month’s Maine Amateur Championship are invited, and the rest of the field is determined by the top points earners from the MSGA’s Player of the Year race.
Match play features two golfers playing head-to-head for each hole. The match is over when one player can’t be caught. For example, if a player is ahead by two holes with one to play, the match is over.
The match play championship was reinstated at the request of some players in 2010. Five players have taken part in all seven match play tournaments since 2010: Joe Alvarez (who won in 2010), Ricky Jones (2014 winner), Matt Greenleaf (2013 winner), Mike Doran, and Scott Sirois. Of those five, Alvarez is the only player to win at least one match in each of the seven tournaments. With a 16-6 record in match play, Alvarez has the highest winning percentage (72.7 percent) in the tournament’s seven-year history,
This is the third big event hosted by Waterville in recent years. The club hosted the Maine Amateur in 2015, and the Maine Women’s Amateur in 2014.
The winner of the match play championship will earn prize money (an amount to be determined), a crystal trophy, and an exemption into the 2018 New England Amateur Championship, which will be played at Portland Country Club.
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The New England junior championship also is next week. The top junior players from the six New England states will compete at Manchester Country Club in Manchester, Vermont, Aug. 14-16.
Day one is a practice round, followed by shotgun starts on days two and three. An invitational event, each state sends seven golfers to compete in a 54-hole team and individual stroke play competition. Team scores are calculated using the top five of seven scores each day. Team and individual champions are crowned.
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The Coca-Cola Junior Championship will be played at Sugarloaf Golf Course Aug. 21-24. As of Thursday, 96 boys and 25 girls from around the world were registered to compete in the tournament.
Among the Mainers expected to take part are Cole Anderson of Camden, who is committed to play golf at Florida State, Anthony Burnham of Scarborough, Tom Higgins of South Portland, Austin Legge of Cape Elizabeth, and Lucas Roop of Gorham. Stephanie Rodrigue of Lewiston is the only Maine girl listed as entered.
This is the fifth year of the tournament, which began in 2013. No player has yet repeated as champion, but Nicklas Staub of Boynton Beach, Florida, will be back to defend his championship.
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Maine high school sports opens the fall season on Monday with practices, including golf.
The high school golf season in Maine is a sprint. The first regular season matches can be played beginning at 3 p.m. Aug. 25. Team championships will be decided Oct. 7, with individual boys and girls championships held Oct. 14. All championships will be played at Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro.
Erskine Academy is the Class B defending team champion.
Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242
Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM
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