Natanis Golf Course has been kind to Jade Haylock before. She’s hoping it’ll be kind to her once again.

Haylock will try to defend her title at the Maine Women’s Amateur Championship, which begins Monday on the Tomahawk course. The Leavitt Area High School graduate and Sacred Heart University golfer leads a group of 83 players that includes three former champions.

“It probably puts a little bit more pressure (on), just knowing that I won it last year,” Haylock said. “But I don’t think it’s pressure that I’m getting from other people, more pressure that I put on myself to perform well again.”

Haylock, who plays out of Turner Highlands Golf Course, won the tournament last year by three strokes after finishing third the year before. She tied for 19th at the New England Amateur in late June, notching the best finish of any Maine player.

“She probably is the favorite in quite a few eyes,” Springbrook Golf Club’s Abby Flanagan said. “She won it last year, she’s been playing awesome.”

She’ll also be playing a course she’s conquered often. Haylock won four straight Class B state championships on the Tomahawk course.

“I definitely feel really confident at Tomahawk. It’s a great course, I know it pretty well,” she said. “Overall, I know exactly where I need to put the ball, the kind of game that I have to play, and what to expect going into this tournament.”

Course knowledge is helpful anywhere but can be particularly important at Natanis. Some greens are flatter, while others have more slope and can be slippery. Trees in the fairway on the fifth and ninth holes can force players to get creative with their shots and club choices. On some holes, even a good shot might not be good enough; finding the right side of the fairway on the par-4 sixth or par-5 14th could still leave a player without an angle to the green.

“It’s going to be a lot of tricky shot placements,” said Erin Holmes, the 2023 champion. “There are some shots where you just can’t hit it high off the tee, so you might have to hit a knock-down shot. Having that in the bag is going to be important.”

Haylock and Holmes lead a solid field. Maria Cianchette, last year’s match play champion, is playing, as is Flanagan, who tied for third with Holmes in 2024. Ruth Colucci, Micki Meggison and Thea Davis, the last three senior champions, are also competing.

Two-time winner Ruby Haylock is taking a year off from competition, but the tournament will see the return of 2019 champion Jordan Laplume, who missed last year’s event, and Kristin Kannegieser, who also last played in 2023 and placed fifth. Kannegieser won the WMSGA championship in 2010 before the Women’s Amateur took its current form in 2012.

“I always think it’s open, especially with golf. One summer to the next, your game can be totally different,” Holmes said. “I would assume (Jade Haylock) would be the favorite, but it’s golf. You never really know. Just because you’re young doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to bring your best game that week.”

Holmes won at 1 under in 2023, then was third at 18 over last year. She said she put more pressure on herself as the defending champion, and is looking to learn from that lesson.

“I’m trying to take the approach I took a few years ago of playing for fun and not setting expectations for myself,” said Holmes, who plays out of Val Halla. “I tried a little too hard on that first day to come out strong, and it ended up biting me. … The best rounds I’ve played are always when I’m relaxed.”

Cianchette, out of The Woodlands, said she’s feeling good about her game as she aims for her first title after top-10 finishes four of the last five years. She was the only other Maine player besides Haylock to make the cut at the New England Amateur, tying for 29th.

“I think this year, I probably want it more than I have in the past years, just because I do feel like I’ve improved a lot,” she said. “I just feel like I have a little more control over what I’m doing when I stand over the ball.”

The same can be said for Flanagan, who has risen over the past three years from a missed cut to 10th place to a tie for third.

“I feel more prepared than in previous years going into this tournament,” she said. “I feel like my game right now is very good around the greens. In previous years, especially in this tournament, I’ve struggled not being able to get up-and-down when I’ve not hit the green in regulation. … I feel like that’s where, at least right now, I’m playing the strongest.”