FALMOUTH

Jack Wyman has been playing plenty of golf recently. Coming off his second straight Maine Amateur title a week ago at Belgrade Lakes Golf Club, the Portland Country Club member knew he had to dig deep to come out on top on Thursday.

His charge fell short as Reese McFarlane of Cape Elizabeth became the first Maine golfer in 24 years to win in the 89th New England Amateur golf championship.

McFarlane shot a 2-over par 72 in the final round to win the 54-hole tournament by two strokes over Drake Hull of Rutland, Vermont, finishing the tournament at 4-under par.

Wyman, of South Freeport, tied for sixth at even par after shooting a 2- over 72 in the final round.

After a disappointing start on the front nine (five bogeys, three pars and one birdie for a 3-over 39), the lefty fell out of the top 20 and knew he needed to pick it up a notch.

“I don’t know, I just couldn’t get anything going, I was playing really lousy,” Wyman said of his front nine performance. “There’s been a lot of golf going on the last couple of weeks, so I knew I had to dig down deep and find something going on to the back nine.”

After his birdie on the ninth hole, Wyman birdied three of the next four holes to reach 1-under through 13.

“I had four out of five there and it was good.,” Wyman said. “I missed a couple of birdie opportunities after that too.”

Wyman shot par over the next three holes to remain at 1-under. A lapse on the green on No. 17 evened his score for the tourney before ending his round with a par on No. 18.

“I didn’t have a lot left in the tank,” Wyman said of his three-putt on 17. “All in all a good tournament though. I feel good about how I ended the tourney.”

Wyman’s busy golf schedule isn’t letting up anytime soon. The 27-year old heads off to play at the U.S. Amateur qualifier on Monday at The Ledges Golf Club in York.

Manuel

Topsham’s Caleb Manuel out of the Brunswick Golf Club made the cut Thursday morning, shooting an evenpar 70 in the second round and 145 for the tournament through two rounds.

The soon-to-be junior at Mt. Ararat High School began the final round on hole No. 10, scoring three consecutive pars, hitting all three greens in regulation. But bogeys on 13 and 14 and a double-bogey on 15, a hole he birdied in the second round, set the golfer back.

“The course is tough, it gets windy out here sometimes,”

Manuel said. “I think it’s a great course though and I definitely think it’s one of the best in Maine.”

Teeing off on his 10th hole of the day, the 16-year old went for the green on the 295-yard par four first hole at the course.

“I tried to go for it obviously because I had nothing to lose. I short-sided myself right of the green,” Manuel said. “I then hit a nice flop shot about five feet from the pin and then rolled it in (for the birdie).”

Manuel continued to play solid golf down the stretch, shooting 1-over on the final nine, to finish the day with a 75, good for a tie for 39th at 10-over. The experience, along with his success at the tournament will go a long way for Manuel and his confidence going forward.

“I think this mentally helps me,” said Manuel, “being able to play 54 holes in two days tournamentwise and waking up at 7:30 both times while playing solid golf.”

Maine represented

With McFarlane’s win, the Purpoodock Club in Cape Elizabeth member became only the fifth player from Maine to win the New England Amateur Championship. He joins John Levinson (1936, ’37, ’47), John Sale (1969), Mark Plummer (1979, ’94), and Sean Gorgone (1991) as the only Mainers to win the event, and the first to win on home soil since Plummer in 1994 at Falmouth Country Club.

“It definitely hasn’t sunk in yet,” said McFarlane, who was disqualified from the Maine Amateur after signing an incorrect scorecard after the second round. “I started to realize walking down the 18th what it was going to be like but it still hasn’t hit me yet.”

“I can’t even remember the last time I won. Probably I was 13-years old. I felt like I could win the Maine Am or the New England Am for a few years, but I could never get off to the right start and put all three rounds together.”

“Reese is a good friend of mine. It’s great to see him playing well,” Wyman said of the winner. “When he’s playing well, there’s not a lot of people that can beat him. He hits it so long and straight. When he’s putting, he’s tough to beat.”

Eight Maine golfers made the cut to play in the final round on Thursday afternoon. Besides McFarlane, Wyman and Manuel, John Hayes IV finished 6- over, Drew Powell and Gavin Dugas both 5-over, Jason Gall was also 6-over and Marty McGuckin finished 9-over.

Nate McCue of Brunswick missed the cut after two rounds, finishing at 8-over par.