Maine Amateur: Cole Anderson wins his second-straight title
Cole Anderson (Maine G.A. photo)
It’s been said that the hardest thing to do in sports is to repeat as a champion, but Camden’s Cole Anderson dispelled that theory today at Biddeford-Saco CC, shooting a bogey-free 65 to win the Maine Amateur Championship for the second year in a row.
The 19-year old member from the Samoset Resort entered today’s final round with a three stroke lead over six players and didn’t make any mistakes en route to a six shot victory. Starting his round on Biddeford-Saco’s 10th hole today, Anderson parred the first two holes before making his first birdie on the par-5 12th. He added birdies on 17 and 18 to make the turn at 3-under par for the day. He added two more birdies at the 1st and 3rd to separate himself from the pack. The exclamation point came on the 9th hole when he drained a 15-foot birdie putt in front of the appreciative gallery.
His rounds of 71-67-65—203 (-10) gave him the lowest score in relation to par in the history of this event. Anderson played the final 39 holes of the tournament without a single bogey, including two bogey-free rounds to finish the event. He posted three rounds in the 60s at Portland CC last year to win his first Amateur en route to another runaway victory. The rising sophomore at Florida State University is now -19 in his last six rounds of the Maine Amateur.
Despite the play of Anderson, the rest of the field is not to be overlooked, as there was some great golf at Biddeford-Saco in the final round. John Hayes, the 2015 Maine Amateur champion, finished in second place after shooting a final round 68 with a three-day total of 209 (-4). Will Kannegieser finished in third place with a score of 210 (-3) after shooting 69 in his last two days. Caleb Manuel was fourth with 211 (-2), and Drew Powell rounded out the top five as the only other player under par for the tournament with 212 (-1).
Other than Anderson’s 65, the low round of the day was shot by Bennett Berg of The Woodlands Club. The 16-year old rattled off a staggering nine birdies to shoot 66 and vault himself into a top ten finish despite an opening 79 on Tuesday.
The top 16 players earn an invitation into the 2020 Match Play Invitational at Spring Meadows GC in early August. Additionally, all players who made the cut earned a berth in next year’s Maine Amateur Championship at Kebo Valley GC.
-- story courtesy Maine Golf Association
ABOUT THE
Maine Amateur
The Maine Amateur Championship is a 54-hole stroke
play event. After the first two rounds,
the field of 132 players is cut to the top 40 and ties
who advance to the final round. Players
must be members in good standing
of
an MSGA member club.
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