MANCHESTER — Tim Gay watched his son Ryan’s golf match against Mark Plummer on Wednesday afternoon and remembered when all Ryan wanted to do was play a round with Plummer, who owns a record 13 Maine Amateur titles.

“Now, they play together all the time,” Tim Gay said.

Now, Ryan regularly beats his mentor. On Wednesday, Ryan Gay earned another win over Plummer, beating the veteran 2 and 1 in the quarterfinals of the Maine State Golf Association’s Match Play Invitational.

The winner of the past two Maine Amateur tournaments, Gay is the top seed in the 32-player field and will face Ricky Jones of Samoset Resort Golf Club in the semifinals at 8 a.m. today. The other semifinal will feature Matt Greenleaf of Sable Oaks Golf Course against Brian Bilodeau of Martindale Country Club. The winners will meet in the finals this afternoon.

Playing in what was sometimes a light mist and sometimes a steady drizzle, Gay took the lead for good over Plummer on the third hole and was 3-up after nine.

“I got off to a hot start. I made five birdies on the front. On the back, I started hitting the driver a little wild,” Gay said.

Gay’s tee shot on 10 went into the trees to the left of the fairway, and his tee shot on 12 went out of bounds. Still, his lead over Plummer never fell below 2-up, and on the 324-yard 16th hole, Gay went with a 3-iron off the tee.

“There’s no sense trying to pop it on, so I figured I’d just lay up and give myself a wedge,” Gay said.

After struggling with his putter in a 1-up win over Chris Hamel in the second round Wednesday morning, Gay switched putters for the quarterfinals.

“This morning, I wasn’t making anything. I put a new putter in the bag yesterday,” Gay said. “I didn’t putt well yesterday and putted terribly this morning.”

For Greenleaf, putting was the difference in his win over defending champion Joe Alvarez. Greenleaf sank a 25-foot birdie putt on the 19th hole against Alvarez to take the win, and he credited his caddy, Tommy Stirling, for his help in setting up the shot.

“It was uphill, a little right to left. It was all about the speed,” Greenleaf said. “(Stirling) gave me a good line, and I needed to make it when it counted… My putter is the key thing right now. It’s all putting.”

Greenleaf’s win spoiled a strong comeback bid by Alvarez, who won a 19-hole match over David Gushee in the morning. Greenleaf led the quarterfinal match 4-up through seven holes before Alvarez rallied on the back nine and had a chance for the win on the 18th, but he missed a three-foot putt.

“Joey battled strong on the back. I think we both let a couple holes get away from us,” Greenleaf said.

Jones and Eric Crouse went back and forth in their quarterfinal match before Jones clinched it on the 18th hole.

“I think both of us didn’t play our best game,” said Jones, the Maine Amateur winner in 2003 and 2004. “One up, 1-down was the biggest margin.”

Bilodeau put together a pair of strong rounds, beating Jason Gall in the morning, 5 and 4, before earning a 3 and 2 win over Mike Doran to advance to today’s action. Bilodeau was 2-up over Doran after nine holes, and his birdie on 13 gave Bilodeau complete control of the match.

“You have to keep the pressure on. This course is short enough where if you’re not making birdies, you’re not going to win,” said Bilodeau, who made nine birdies in his two Wednesday matches, including five in a row to close out the front nine against Gall. “If you keep giving yourself a chance, you’re going to make a few.”

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

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