Eric Higgins of Kennebunk held off several final round charges to win his first-ever Maine Amateur golf championship last Thursday afternoon at the Waterville Country Club in Oakland. Higgins, who plays out of the Cape Arundel Golf Club in Kennebunkport, finished with a final round score of 69 giving him a 54-hole total of 209 and a one-stroke win over Toby Spector.

Joseph Alvarez of Hampden finished the tourney at 211 and Lance Libby and 13-time Maine Amateur winner Mark Plummer both came in at 212.

The 126-player field that started the tourney on Tuesday, July 10, included a number of local golfers with several reaching the championship round of play. (The top 40 players and ties moved into the championship round. The cut was a score of 152.)

One of those local golfers was Gorham’s Joe Manganaro. He opened the tourney with a 78 in round one and followed that with a 73 in round two for a 151 total and a spot in the final round. His last round of 78 left him at 229 for the tourney.

“I was struggling off the tee and didn’t hit many fairways so it was the tee shots that killed me,” said Manganaro. “I hadn’t played this in a couple years due to work reasons, so it was just nice to get back in it and make the cut.

Like many other golfers, Manganaro found the Waterville Country Club course to be very challenging.

“Some of the pins today were in spots where you couldn’t be aggressive with your putt because if you were, you’d have eight feet coming back. You had to be conservative on many putts,” said Manganaro. “I wish I would have played a bit better like I did yesterday (in the second round), but there’s not much you can do about it.”

Gorham’s David Gushee had rounds of 73, 74 and 75 to finish 13th with a total of 222.

“My swing just never came around for these three days,” said Gushee. “And I was real streaky putting – four-footers slipped by all day. Today nothing went right. I dug myself a hole right at the beginning.”

Patrick Taber of Gorham shot a 78 in round one and then added a 71 in round two to qualify for the championship round. He finished at 232 for the tourney.

Westbrook’s Gary Manoogian was three back with a 72 after round one, but his 80 in round two left him at 152 entering the final round of play. Manoogian, who tied for second at last year’s Maine Amateur, finished the tourney at 232.

Other local golfers who played in rounds one and two at last week’s Maine Amateur included:

Ashley Fifield (Westbrook) 155

Ricardo Petillo (Westbrook) 155

Bobby Myers (Standish) 164

Brandon Poulin (Gorham) 154

Thomas Greer (Falmouth) 166